Red Machine & White Hands
by Athelassa
Summary: England, October 1943: When Dick Winters is starting to feel sick during a training exercise in Aldbourne, it slowly becomes clear for everyone around him that he is neither indestructible nor flawless. Struggling with his own humaneness and some trust issues in Easy Company, Dick forgets to guard his most vulnerable spot: his heart. Eventual Winters/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Red Machine & White Hands**

Summary: England, October 1943: When Dick Winters is starting to feel sick during a training exercise, it slowly becomes clear for everyone around him that Winters is neither indestructible nor flawless. The hardest battle for the acceptance of his own humaneness, however, takes place inside Dick himself, while at the same time struggling with some trust issues in Easy Company. Somewhere in the process, he finds his heart all of a sudden dangerously vulnerable. Eventual Winters/OC.

Rating: T (just to be safe)

Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me. I am focusing on the fictionalized characters of HBO and hope no one will take offence with this story. It was created purely for fun, I do not receive any money for it.

Author's Note: First, the same thing as last time, I'm still not a native English speaker... Darn it! :-) But I try my best and I hope the mistakes aren't too annoying. Second, I have _no_ experience whatsoever with any things concerning military business. I looked up a few things, but everything else is just made up. Sorry if it isn't accurate. Third, this is probably a longer story and I hope my rather limited free time will allow me to update regularly. But a nice review every once in a while can work wonders. ;-)

Criticism is always appreciated.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

If asked about it later, Dick could not have said when the pain had started. He had been feeling unwell for a few days, having no appetite and suffering from stomach cramps. Since it was an on and off thing, he forgot about it during the strenuous days of training in Aldbourne. Captain Sobel was stricter than ever before, shooing them from one exhausting maneuver to the other, leaving Dick to fall into bed dead tired in the evenings. Not even Nix had been able to get him to do more than just sleep in his scarce time off.

They had been in England for something over a month and Dick had actually looked forward to his first 24 hours solo-maneuver with second platoon, feeling eager to test his leadership skills while being alone with his men. He imagined it to be a relief, working with them without Sobel breathing down his neck all the time and scrambling up all of Dick's hard work to get them in the right positions. He also felt that although his status as a leader was respected from all sides, the men still lacked trust in him as their closest superior officer. After all, he would be the one leading them in battle, being responsible for life and death situations. But some of the men were more than a little worried about the leadership qualities of a man who neither drank nor smoked and spent most of his free-time reading or writing. That was one of the views Dick wanted to change during their solo-maneuver, at the same time tightening his bond with the men.

However, when the morning of this important day came, Dick felt more like staying in bed and forgetting about this whole military business. The stomach pains had woken him up in the middle of the night, coming back with a vengeance, and he had not been able to get back to sleep after that, twisting and turning restlessly in bed until morning. On top of it all, he had started to feel nauseous, being unsure if he would even be able to keep down a much needed cup of coffee. Great, this was about the worst time to get sick. But he could not back out of this very exercise now or he would never hear the end of it from Sobel. Their relationship was more than just a little strained and Dick was just too stubborn to show any weakness in front of Sobel.

"Good morning, sunshine", Nix greeted him sarcastically, already waiting in the car to get them to the base when Dick stepped out of their billet. "You're looking peachy today."

At every other time, Dick would have smiled a bit, shaking his head at his friend's antics, but this morning his patience was already wearing thin. He longed to press a hand to his stomach, just to relieve the pain for a moment, but he was sure Nix would notice and he did not need his friend to fuss over him.

"Morning, Lew", he answered, rather curtly, while Nix was pulling out of the courtyard of the old English house where they were staying.

"What's up with you?", his friend asked more gently, giving him a long side glance. "Nervous because of the solo-maneuver?"

"Yeah, a bit", Dick admitted, glad for the way out that Nix was offering. It was true after all, he was slightly nervous and that might aggravate his stomach pains even further. After a short while, they arrived at the base in silence.

He decided to skip breakfast and coffee, instead going for tea. That earned him another long glance and a raised eyebrow from Nix, but Dick did not have the time to explain, leaving his friend where he was and hurrying away. He was already running a little late for the meeting he had before the exercise.

Sobel, Major Horton and some of the other officers from regiment were already waiting for him in headquarters. Dick looked at his watch and saw that he was one minute late. One minute. Nevertheless, he murmured an excuse, receiving an irritated glance from Sobel, and then sat down at the table up front.

"Lieutenant Winters", Horton started, getting up and stepping in front of the map that hung at the wall. "Today is your first of five solo-maneuvers with second platoon of Easy Company. You're certainly aware of how important these exercises are. The platoons need to be able to operate autonomously, without constant help and directions from your CO."

Dick snorted inwardly at that, thinking of the great help Sobel had been so far. The Captain was certainly more hindrance than support when it came to the different maneuvers.

"Therefore", Horton continued, "the responsibility for the success of your platoon and consequently for the whole company lies with you. You're allowed to fail one of these five exercises, if you fail more than that, your CO will have the opportunity of reassigning you to another post that will fit your abilities better."

Which translated demotion or mess officer to Dick. Glancing at Sobel and seeing him smile just a tiny little bit at that prospect made Dick even more resolute in seeing this maneuver through, no matter the costs. He knew he could do it, he was more than ready for it.

"Here is your assignment", Horton went on, picking up a stick and pointing to the map. "Second platoon will set out in one hour, at 1100. First, there is a fifteen miles march ahead of you in full gear. You're taking this road down here to the woods and back up to the vicinity of Ramsbury. You'll find troops stationed there in the woods and it is imperative to sneak past these soldiers without them seeing you or any of your men, or you've already failed the exercise. Then the next step will be the taking of an occupied farm complex close to Lamboum, here. In between these two tasks, there will be attempts to ambush you, so you have to maintain a close watch on your men. You're expected back here at the base at exactly 1100 hours tomorrow morning. Not one minute earlier or later. Questions?"

"No, sir", Dick answered. He knew from other officers how such maneuvers played out, so he had already expected something like that and had prepared for it.

"Good", Sobel remarked, getting up and walking over to Dick. "Here is a map. Take the time to mark your way, then assemble second platoon to brief them. Sergeant Lipton is waiting outside."

"Yes, sir", Dick answered and went to the task right away.

When he got up to take his leave, the sharp pain in his stomach almost made him wince, but he could mask it in front of Sobel. The other officers wished him good luck, then he went outside. Lipton looked up when Dick stepped out, nodding his head in greeting before going back to watching the drizzle on this dreary October morning.

"At least we can put our new raincoats to an endurance test", the sergeant commented lightly, as usual seeing the positive side in everything, without ever complaining.

"Yeah", Dick answered, breathing in deeply, "and the mist might come in handy as well, since we'll have to stay hidden for the most part of the maneuver anyway."

Lipton gave him a supportive smile.

"Assemble the men in the briefing room", Dick ordered softly and watched Lipton nod, then leaving for the barracks. Only then Dick allowed himself to press a hand to his hurting stomach, willing the pain to go away, but without real success. Maybe he should go looking for some painkillers, but then decided against it. That would just raise questions. Hopefully it would get better once they were moving, he would need his full concentration for the hours ahead.

When Dick entered the briefing room half an hour later, the 42 men of second platoon all snapped to attention.

"At ease", Dick commanded, stepping up to the front and pinning the map to the wall. He shortly relayed the assignment he had just received to the men, explaining to them the different tasks ahead.

"Any questions?", he asked the men, who looked less than thrilled to spend the next 24 hours outside in this weather.

"Yeah, I've got a question", Guarnere spoke up, letting out a long-suffering sigh that communicated his unwillingness of the exercise ahead. Dick knew then and there that he would need to watch the sergeant, because he had the habit of influencing the rest of the group, positively or negatively. And in this case obviously negatively. "With how many men do we have to reckon? In the woods and in the farm?"

"Good question, Bill", Dick answered, trying his best to encourage Guarnere despite his reluctance. "Unfortunately, I have no idea. They didn't tell me and I think this is one of the things that we'll have to figure out ourselves. It's not like we'll have the chance to ask the Germans about their strength, before attacking."

This earned Dick a few smiles from Lipton, Sergeant Grant and Doc Roe. At least some of them seemed motivated enough.

"More questions?", Dick asked again, looking from one to the other, but everything seemed clear now. "Good, then go and get your gear, we'll set out in fifteen minutes. Don't forget your raincoats."

The first three hours of marching went by relatively quickly, despite the steady drizzle that slowly but surly permeated their coats. No one had openly complained yet and the mood of the men had even lifted a bit, with Perconte telling childhood stories of his stay in a very rigid Catholic school and him driving the preachers to the brink of madness.

This would all have been nice and good, if not the pain in Dick's stomach had steadily grown more vicious. It also had moved somewhat, the sharpest pain now in his lower right side, like an annoying, never-ending stitch. It would have been a relief to limp or bend forward, but he was sure someone would notice. Already now, Doc Roe eyed him suspiciously from time to time, and Lipton was almost glued to his side, maybe feeling that something was off.

"When are we taking a break, sir?", Lipton in this moment decided to break the silence, looking closely at Dick.

"Soon", Dick answered, frowning a bit at the sergeant. "In about fifteen minutes we'll reach a small forest where we'll have cover."

Lipton nodded and looked away from him, out to the cow meadows and fields around them. When Dick thought no one was looking, he sneaked a hand to his hurting side, letting it rest there as inconspicuously as possible. Maybe he should have got himself some painkillers, when he had had the chance... But it was too late now, he would either have to ask Doc Roe or just carry on without. Besides, he was not sure if his upset stomach would tolerate the pills, even some small sips of waters had left him feeling sick.

As planned, the forest came soon into view and Dick gave the command for a short break of ten minutes. The men sat down and most of them already started eating from their provisions.

Dick lowered himself gingerly onto a big rock and wiped his sweaty forehead. It was rather cold and they had hardly had any occasion to exert themselves, but he was strangely enough sweating. At the same time he felt the chill of his by now soaked through clothes steal into his bones. He just had to admit it to himself, he was falling ill. Which really irked him, because he never got sick. Just now of all the possible times, he felt under the weather, literally. Sighing softly to himself, he decided that he would call in sick, when he came back from this maneuver, if the illness persisted. The thought of lying in bed and resting was very comforting. But it did not change anything about his current position and he certainly would not call off this exercise, he would not give Sobel that satisfaction.

"Would you like some bread, sir?", Roe asked him and brought him out of his reverie. The medic had sat himself on the stone beside Dick and munched from his bread, holding out a piece for Dick.

"No, thank you", Dick answered, shaking his head and at the same time feeling his stomach churn only at the thought of eating.

"Is everything alright?", the medic asked again, trying not to sound too intrusive.

"Yes, just fine", Dick replied, seeing his suspicions about Roe noticing confirmed. "Why would you think that something is wrong?"

Roe was silent for a while, obviously pondering his answer.

"Well... You've been quiet and... pale, I guess. Sir."

Dick forced himself to smile, then asking, "And normally I'm not?"

Roe picked up on that, giving him a smile in return and then shrugging his shoulders.

"Then call it a feeling. I can't explain...", he finally answered, a bit self-consciously.

"Everything is fine, Eugene", Dick tried to reassure him. "I'll just be happy when this maneuver is over and we're back at the base."

He did not know why he had said that last bit. Maybe because it was true. But normally he would have pointed out the importance of this very exercise, explaining why it was so vital for all of them, not longingly stating that he would rather be back already. Roe gave him a long look, but then shrugged, as if to say, 'fine, be that way'.

Their break was over and they were back marching again. A cold wind suddenly came up, rustling through the wet, brown leaves on the ground and making their teeth chatter.

"God, I'm looking forward to spending the night outside", Luz commented sarcastically. "Come to the army and experience the most exciting adventures of your life, they said. Yeah, it's a little bit like the boy scouts, with the exception that they always had hot chocolate. Do we get hot chocolate for the night, Lieutenant Winters?"

The others snickered at his bold question and even Dick himself had to struggle to keep his face straight.

"Sorry to disappoint, George", he answered, deadpan. "I'm afraid Colonel Sink expected men to join the troops, not girls."

Some more snickering for that and Dick was glad that their spirits were quite high, despite their circumstances.

It took them another three hours to reach the woods, where they were supposed to sneak past enemy troops in order to get to their main objective, the occupied farm complex. It was early evening by then, and a gloomy dusk had already crept in. Dick decided to wait until it was fully dark to continue and let the men rest for an hour, before beginning their actual task.

"Eat now, drink some water and smoke your cigarettes", Dick advised, while his men were settling down groaningly for a break. "When we set out again, I want light and noise discipline for the next few hours."

Receiving nods in return, Dick lowered himself to the ground, not caring if it was wet, leaning against a tree and drawing up his legs. Good, this position at least brought some relief for the angry pain in his side. He took the provisions out of his backpack, not feeling hungry at all. The nausea had gotten worse over the last few hours. But he knew that he needed to eat something, he had skipped every meal so far today and he was already feeling a bit lightheaded. If he wanted to see this through, he would have to force something down his throat. He just was not sure if he could convince it to stay there and he was less than trilled at the prospect of throwing up in front of the men. Things like that, the weakness or fear of an officer, could destroy months of building up of trust and respect. Any hesitation at a command given in battle could decide over life and death, and it was best if the men thought of him as totally in control of everything, under all circumstances.

He broke away a small piece of bread and gingerly took a bite from it. The bread was already drenched from the rain, feeling mushy in his mouth. He forced himself to swallow, which took most of his willpower, then set aside the food, giving up. There was no way in hell that he would be able to eat more, his stomach was rebelling already now, practically begging to expel the food again. He took a few deep breaths, trying to think of something nice, his home or a morning swim in Summer.

A shape was standing before him in the twilight and when Dick looked up, he recognized Lipton. The sergeant crouched down in front of him and gave him a hesitant smile.

"Not feeling hungry, sir?", Lipton asked, letting Dick know that he had noticed him not eating.

"Not really", Dick then admitted, seeing no sense in lying to the sergeant. Lipton was the one man he trusted most in this platoon and he knew that the sergeant cared deeply for the well-being of each and every man in Easy Company. Dick himself included.

"Have you been feeling sick?", Lipton inquired further, calmly. Dick knew that the sergeant's caring also had a functional aspect: after all it could save their lives in battle, knowing the weak spot in their group. And as little as he liked it, Dick was slowly becoming this weak spot.

"Yeah", he then acknowledged, rubbing his tired eyes. It was actually quite a relief, being able to drop the pretence of good health at least a little, in front of Lipton. "Just some kind of stomach flu, it's really annoying."

Lipton nodded, face thoughtful.

"Maybe you should let Doc Roe have a look at you", he suggested tentatively.

"No", Dick replied at once, shaking his head. "This won't be necessary. I don't want the men to know. Understood?"

Lipton obediently nodded his head, although it was obvious that he felt different about it. He then got up and rejoined the men, leaving Dick to his thoughts and hurting side. After the hour was up, Dick assembled the men and told them about the plan.

"The troops will probably hide in the dell two miles east from here", he stated, watching the map in his hands. "But there might be others hiding in their vicinity. We'll sneak around this place in a wide arch. Pay attention to fir groupings, because the forest will be there at its darkest and gives good coverage for your enemy."

It was fully dark by now, but Dick could still see his men nodding their heads. The sky was covered with clouds, hiding an almost full moon, which meant that the darkness would not be complete. They would need to tread carefully.

"We split up here. Lipton", he addressed the sergeant, "you take first squad and go around the dell north of it. Here, take the map and look at it again."

While Lipton took the map, Dick turned around to the other men.

"Guarnere. You take second squad, I'll take third together with Grant. We'll go the same way, passing the dell south of it. I want you to stay right behind me all the time."

"Yes, sir", Guarnere answered, sounding a bit peeved at the prospect of trailing after Dick all the time. Which was exactly why Dick had decided to keep him close. Grant just nodded, staying his usual quiet self. Dick had probably never heard anything else from the sergeant except "Yes, sir" and "No, sir".

"Then good luck and don't let yourself be caught", Dick said. "We'll meet again at the small clearing at 2115 hours. Go."

First squad silently took the path that led away from them on the left side, while Dick took the path on his right. He could hear the men trailing behind him, sometimes a bit more to the left or a bit more to the right, so that they would not walk in a straight line, just as they had learned. They were quiet, but still a bit too loud for his liking, which was why he was signing to Guarnere to make them walk more silently.

After about a mile, Dick signed again to them, commanding them to crouch down while walking because they were coming close to the dell. Although crouching down first came as a relief to Dick's hurting side, it soon turned out to aggravate his sore abdomen even more. The straining of muscles made his side scream in pain and he was glad that it was dark, because the others could not see him grimace in pain and constantly pressing a hand to his side. The ache was so distracting, that he almost overlooked the short flicker of light in the woods in front of him. He heard Guarnere beside him stopping, which meant that he had seen it as well. Dick gave the sign for his men to kneel down, then indicated to Guarnere to take two men and go to investigate, while the others waited.

The steady drizzle had by now increased to a light rain and the wind was still blowing quite forcefully. Although Dick was shivering a bit, slowly losing the feeling in his feet, he was also glad for it, because it made the sneaking part easier.

Soon Guarnere came back and signed to Dick that there were ten men waiting in the bushes for them, probably a patrol. Nodding his head he motioned for the sergeant to take the men around them, changing the way and coming closer to the outskirts of the forest, where no doubt other troops were waiting. But they just had to take the risk, there was no other way.

At one point, they even had to crawl a short bit beneath the bushes, which was agony for Dick's side. For the first time, he actually had second thoughts about his decision to go through with the maneuver. He was tired, cold, hurting, feeling sick and more than just a little fed up with this nighttime exercise. All he wanted to do was curl up in his bed and sleep until the pain went away. It would be so easy, he just had to call it off and then have Luz radio for a jeep that would take him back. Maybe Horton would even let him repeat the maneuver, without calling it a failure, because of medical reasons. But even if the major would count it as failed, Dick had four more maneuvers ahead of him and he was sure he could see each and everyone of them through successfully.

However, he did not say anything, inching forward with clenched teeth. He had told himself to go through with it this morning and that was what he was going to do. Pain, cold, sickness and fatigue were waiting for him ahead in this war, so he might as well get used to it now, while he had the opportunity to adjust to it with without being in danger to lose any of his men. Besides, he was not sure he could take the look of glee on Sobel's face if he came back unsuccessful and defeated. And he did not even want to think of what his men would say to him giving up in the middle of the exercise.

In the mean time, they had snuck around their "enemy" troops and almost reached the clearing where they were supposed to meet up with squad one. They were able to walk upright again, if still carefully, because Horton had talked about the possibility of an ambush all along the way. Dick could make out shapes in the trees by the clearing, but he was not sure if it was Lipton with first squad or the their enemy. So he signed again for his men to kneel down, then crept slowly to the clearing, taking out his clicker along the way. He knew that their enemies here were American, too, and would know about the clicker, but since it was just an exercise, Dick hoped that this would not be used against him, since employing the clicker was what he was taught to do in this situation.

He clicked just once, softly, then waiting. Two clicks could be heard as an answer, then one of the shapes turned his head and Dick saw that it was Lipton. Relieved, he gestured to Guarnere and Grant to let the men follow, then softly walked over to Lipton.

"Went everything alright?", Dick asked the sergeant in a hushed voice.

"Yes, sir, no troubles", Lipton answered, just as low. "And you?"

"Everything fine", Dick replied. "We came across a patrol, but we were able to sneak past them."

"What are we doing next?", Lipton asked, wiping the rain water from his wet face.

"We move on in this direction for a mile longer and we will be out of the tightly controlled part of the forest. Let the men spread out in a loose order, so we won't make too big a target."

Lipton nodded and they were moving again. Cold, wet leaves slapped into Dick's face every now and then, while they continued through the bushes. He took out the map and made sure that he had made no mistake concerning their position, although he had memorized the map by now.

They reached the mentioned place without any trouble and Dick motioned for them to sit down in the thick brushwood and take a short break.

"What about smoking, sir?", Guarnere asked Dick softly, packet already in hand.

"No, Bill", Dick answered, taking out his canteen and gulping down some water. His throat was parched. "No light, no smoke."

Guarnere muttered something like "damn Quaker" under his breath, but did not complain openly about it, going back to the men sulkily. Dick just sighed, not feeling up to calling him out on that and take him to task. The water he had just drunk did not agree with him at all and he swallowed heavily, feeling his stomach turning. He probably had gulped it down a bit too fast...

"Sir?", Lipton chose this moment to speak up. "About the attack on the occupied farm complex, I thought it might be good to..."

"Please, excuse me", Dick interrupted suddenly, then staggered off into the woods, stomach heaving. He did not care about being discovered right then and there, he just had to get away from the men before he embarrassed himself. Leaning on a tree trunk, he could not keep it back any longer and began to retch, bringing up what little water he had drunk in the last few hours. The contraction of his stomach elicited red hot pain in his right side and he had to bite back the moan that threatened to escape him. Although the throwing up was so painful it almost brought him to his knees, he tried to be as quiet about it as possible. When the vomiting stopped and he lifted his head, trying to get his breath back in shuddering gasps, he realized that he had not been silent enough about it.

"Sir?", Lipton asked softly, standing right behind him when Dick turned around, Doc Roe at his side. "You're not well. It would be better to let Gene here have a look at you."

The sergeant's tone was almost pleading, showing that he was more than a little concerned.

"I'm fine", Dick tried to shrug him off, still breathing heavily and flinching at the pain in his side. It was so bad now, he had to stay hunched over because he could not straighten up, he just couldn't. "Just feeling a little ill, that's all. Nothing to worry about."

"Sir, if I may say so, you look more than a little ill", Doc Roe spoke up with his soft lilt, taking another step towards Dick. "You realize that it might be serious?"

"Richard", Lipton now opted for his first name, though no one ever called him that. "Just let Gene do his job. He could use the practice, you know, testing what he's learnt."

Although the eager smile on Doc Roe's face at the mentioning of practice did nothing to reassure Dick – the medic probably already seeing his officer as some kind of guinea pig – Dick felt his resolve crumble and he finally nodded his consent. He just could not fight against all sides, not in his condition, with Guarnere acting up and now Lipton and Roe talking at him from both sides.

"Good!", Roe exclaimed enthusiastically, then tamping down his voice immediately at Dick's warning look. "Sit down here, sir."

Dick did as he was told and lowered himself onto a fallen trunk, Doc Roe kneeling down beside him.

"So", the medic started, obviously thinking hard of the different steps of diagnosis he had been taught, "what are your symptoms and when did they start?"

Dick just sighed, but then he humored Roe, answering truthfully, "It started a few days ago, I can't remember exactly when. First there were just the stomach cramps, then I started feeling nauseous. Look, Eugene, it's just a stomach flu that has steadily got worse."

"Stomach cramps?", Roe muttered softly to himself, not at all following Dick's self-diagnosis, then dug deeper, "What kind of stomach cramps?"

"What do you mean 'what _kind_ of cramps'?", Dick asked, starting to get annoyed. He did not have time for this crap, they should be moving out again. "The kind that hurts, okay?"

"Dull ache? Stinging or searing pain?", the medic supplied helpfully, not letting himself be off tracked by Dick's mood. "Where is the pain located?"

"It started with a dull ache in my stomach, now it's a rather sharp pain in my lower right side", Dick answered gloomily, wishing this to be over rather sooner than later.

"Lower right side?", Roe asked again, suddenly alarmed.

"Yeah, I just said that, didn't I?", Dick replied grumpily, not understanding why the medic was all of a sudden in such a frenzy.

"Sir", Roe inquired softly, his warm brown eyes looking deeply into Dick's blue ones. "You still got your appendix?"

"What...?", Dick stuttered, taken aback and being sure he must have misheard. It just could not be... could it? "Yes... yes, I still have my appendix... But that's impossible!"

"Why impossible?", Roe asked, slowly overcoming his alarm and beginning to look more and more excited. "Appendicitis is very common and can happen to anyone who still has an appendix. Let me see your abdomen, I'm after all only guessing so far."

Dick numbly rolled up his soaked jacket and pullover, shivering in the cold.

"But why have I been feeling this sick?", he asked softly, while Roe started palpating his abdomen carefully, the touch of his fingers warm and gentle. "This seems to me more like a stomach flu."

"That is actually rather typical", Lipton answered, surprisingly enough, and not the medic. He came to sit on the trunk beside Dick. "I had appendicitis when I was thirteen. Hurt like hell, but what I most remember about it is being sick all the time."

Dick looked at him gloomily, then could not bite back a hiss, when Doc Roe touched an exceptional painful spot.

"It hurts here?", the medic asked, then pressed softly on the spot again.

"Yes", Dick ground out, the pain making him short tempered. It would have been so easy to snarl at Roe, but he needed to hold himself back, the medic was just doing his job. And Roe _was_ trying to be gentle, after all, but his side had turned so tender that even the slightest touch made him flinch in pain.

"Alright, I'll have to do a last test", Roe said, glancing rather apologetically at Dick, so he suspected this would be painful. "Does this hurt?"

Oddly enough, the medic pressed a finger into his trouble-free left side, slowly amplifying pressure.

"Gene, it's not my left side that hurts, but the right side...", Dick tried to explain, until the medic lifted his finger and let his stomach rebound. The pain that exploded in his side was so intense that he was instantly doubling over, moaning softly and rocking back and forth in an attempt to stop the pain. For a moment he forgot where he was and what he was doing, it was just him and the red hot agony in his side. Then he slowly came out of his very own world of pain, blinking away the black spots in his vision and struggling to keep himself from throwing up on Roe's shoes.

"Okay", the medic pronounced, rather cheerily and definitely proud of his diagnostic skills. "This surely looks like appendicitis. And already in an advanced stage, as it seems."

"Just don't do that again", Dick whispered weakly, still hunched over and feeling sweat trail down his brow. At the same time, he was shaking from the cold and pain, feeling more miserable than he had in a long time. No, actually he could not remember ever feeling _this_ miserable.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up, seeing that Lipton had got up and crouched down in front of him, giving him an encouraging smile.

"You'll soon be feeling better, sir", the sergeant tried to give him confidence. "The surgery is no big deal."

"Surgery?", Dick asked faintly. "There is no other way?"

"I'm afraid not, sir", Roe answered, but sounding not too unhappy about it. Maybe he hoped to assist in the surgery or just looked forward to treat someone actually sick, and not just pretending in an exercise. Then he reached out a hand to feel Dick's forehead, the touch oddly soothing.

"And I wouldn't wait too long with it, if I were you", Roe then added in a more worried tone, a frown discernible on his face despite the dark. "You're already running a fever, which means that inflammation is spreading. It won't get better by itself, it's only going to get worse."

This would explain why Dick had felt chilly right from the beginning of the exercise. But how could he have known that he was suffering from appendicitis? Why did this have to happen right now? He was stuck in the middle of nowhere with his men, on an important maneuver, training for the most destructive war in history, and his appendix had just decided to act up. He was slowly starting to feel more than just a little annoyed at his situation, even making him forget his pain for a while. God, this was so _stupid_! What was an appendix for anyway, if not for creating trouble?

"Shall I have Luz radio for a transport to the military hospital right now, sir?", Lipton asked softly.

Dick pondered this for a moment, irritation for his situation still on the forefront of his mind, then shook his head.

"No", he said lowly, but with determination. "We'll finish this maneuver, I'll go to the hospital as soon as we're done here."

"Sir", Roe spoke up insistently, "it would be better for you to see a doctor rather sooner than later. Get this thing out right away."

"I appreciate your advice, trooper", Dick answered, rather frostily, not liking at all the way his authority was crumbling. That was exactly what he had feared by admitting any weakness in front of the men. "But I'm making the decisions here and I say we finish this exercise first."

"With all due respect, sir", Roe retorted heatedly, the normally gentle eyes now blazing, "this is a stupid decision! Your appendix is close to bursting and believe me, you don't want that to happen. The pain you're in right now is a walk in the park compared to the shit that is waiting for you if that happens! People can die from a ruptured appendix!"

"Eugene, you're forgetting your place", Lipton cut in sternly, before Dick had the opportunity to call Roe to account. The medic looked angrily to the sergeant, but then got a grip on himself.

"I'm sorry, sir", he apologized to Dick through clenched teeth. "Won't happen again. The decision lies with you entirely." He paused, struggling with himself, but then could not keep himself from adding, "After all, it's not my health you're playing with."

Having said that, Roe got up and stalked back to the others, obviously feeling he was not needed anymore. Dick and Lipton looked after him, the sergeant sighing softly.

"At least no one can claim he's not dedicated", Lipton commented to Dick, a wry look on his face. "Please, sir, don't judge him too harshly for it."

Dick looked a bit sourly at the sergeant, because he did not like the fact that even Lipton was starting to feel he needed to give good advice about what Dick should do and what not. However, he kept himself from commenting on it, suddenly feeling tired and the pain in his side screaming for attention again. With a hand pressed to his stomach, he slowly walked back to the men, Lipton trailing behind him.

It was going to be a long night.

-TBC-


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks a lot to __**beth-rodrigues.77**__ and __**BatOutOfHell-Madness**__ for your steadfast reviewing. Very glad you liked the beginning of this new story, although it is quite different from the last one. Then many thanks as well to __**ChocAndSnow19**__ for finding your way to my story and for the nice review (and don't be too worried, I love Dick way too much to do something too... let's say "permanent" to him...:-) )_

_Yeah, let's see if Dick is going to be reasonable or not... Have fun with second chapter!_

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Lip could clearly remember the first time he had met Winters, who had just come freshly out of officer school. With his limbs slightly too long, he had a coltish look about him, standing there beside Sobel with an earnest expression on his boyish face that remembered of a precocious kid. It was true, Lip had at first felt some major doubts about this red haired rookie with his soulful eyes, who could not have been more than two years his senior. But Lip had quickly learned that first impressions could be deceiving. He had suspected Winters to be too soft with the men and unsure about leading them in the exercises, but Lip could not have been more wrong. Winters turned out to know exactly what he was doing, oozing a reassuring confidence, and he was right from the beginning very strict in every aspects concerning the men, demanding the best everyone around him had to offer with a steely determination. At the same time, he proved to be the center of calm, never losing his head or thinking things only halfway through. But what had finally earned him the respect of the men was his sense for justice. Lip had never seen a man more dedicated to the task of judging fairly, always putting reason over emotion.

This was why Lip found himself more than a bit baffled at the turn of events of the night. Looking over to the lieutenant, Lip could even in the dark make out the grimace that had taken hold of Winter's face in the last few hours. For a man this reasonable, Winters was really behaving more than just a little irrational right now. Lip had tried to talk him out of going through with the exercise despite the illness, so had Roe, but their efforts were worth nothing against a direct order.

Trying to put his worry out of his mind, Lip instead focused on the task ahead, but he was not all that successful, his eyes were roaming all the time back to Winters. It would be a shame to lose an officer as dedicated as Winters. When he had first been assigned to them in Toccoa, the men had been relieved to be led by someone who understood his business and invested every free second of his time in getting even better.

However, after a few weeks, first complaints were to be heard, too. Lip did not even know who had started it. There had been a clash of wills when second platoon had not run the obstacle course exactly the way Winters had wanted them to do it. By then, the lieutenant had already garnered a reputation for his strictness and sense of perfection. The men obviously thought that Winters was going too far with his relentlessness concerning exactness and there was more than just a bit of low grumbling to be heard among them, as Winters had forced them to repeat the course again and again. Twelve times. Lip had kept a close count. Every time the men opened their mouths in protest, Winters had them running the course again, appearing the very epitome of calmness, totally unfazed by the by then seething men. Maybe it had been this cool detachment, coupled with his penchant for immaculacy and precision that had finally granted him the nickname. Lip could not have said who had first come up with it, but in the showers, at the end of this frustrating day of endless obstacle courses it had suddenly been born: Red Machine.

It had stuck, somehow, and on first glance it seemed spot on. Lip had never seen Winters freak out, but at the same time he had also never heard him laugh either. Lip could remember some occasions when he had thought it rather scary how impassive the lieutenant could be, especially in the face of Sobel, who had given him more than a few chances to be pissed off. Beside his rather detached demeanor, there had been some other traits of Winters' that had caused some talking. For example his radical abstinence from alcohol and cigarettes. Or the fact that he always spent his weekends at the base. Or the fact that he never talked about anything personal. All Lip knew about Winters was that he grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and that he had attended College.

All of these things came together in their nickname for him, Red Machine, although Lip had honestly thought it a bit unfair. He had always refused to join in in the rumors and stories concerning Winters, since he had a while back decided he would only judge what he experienced himself. Not so Guarnere, Luz and some others, who had always joked that by the end of the day, someone would just need to turn off Winter's switch and turn it back on in the morning.

But Lip was still fully convinced that Winters was the best officer they had, by far. And the good thing was that despite the men grumbling about the lieutenant's tedious sense of exactness, despite his unapproachable nature and despite his abstinence from each and every single luxury good, none of the men would ever wish for Winters to be replaced. Popular was a funny word to be used in connection with Winters, but the men certainly valued his presence more than anything, especially in the face of Sobel's blundering. No one in the company would be stupid enough to overlook that their survival would most probably be depending on Winter's competence. Probably without him even noticing, the men had in their very own and very subtle ways become fiercely loyal towards Winters. Maybe the whole nickname thing was even part of that, who knew.

Looking to Winters, Lip saw that the lieutenant was watching the men closely, obviously fearing they knew about his illness. His glance lingered shortly on Lip, then he looked away. If there was one real fault to Winters, it was probably his obsession with control. Lip always had the feeling that the lieutenant thought them all slightly incompetent, since he was more than just a little reluctant to delegate power, which exasperated Lip from time to time. If only Winters would open up some more towards the company, if he could finally take this leap of faith with the men with whom he was going to invade hell, then he would become an exceptional leader, maybe the best the US army had to offer in this war. Until then, Lip was happy to stay at his side and be content that he at least was the best officer Easy had got so far.

Seeing the lieutenant beckoning to join him, Lip turned off his musings and walked over to Winters.

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When Dick came back to the men, everything was quiet, no one looked up or gave reason to suspect that they knew what had occurred in the woods, which was a relief to Dick. If he could help it, no one else would need to know about his illness, at least not during the exercise. Of course the men would eventually need to be told about Dick's appendicitis, presuming Roe's diagnosis was accurate, since he would probably miss a few days of training after the surgery. But the notion of his men thinking him weak and unable to go through his first solo-maneuver made his skin crawl. They already had a company CO incapable of leading them into battle, their trust need not be shaken further by a lieutenant falling ill on his first important combat exercise.

Dick tried to bolster his resolution with such thoughts, willing his side to pretty-please stop acting up for the next few hours, and then motioned for the sergeants to join him. The frown on Lipton's face told him at once that the other man thought his decision to go through with everything downright stupid, but Lipton bit back every comment that might have been on his tongue. Grant joined him rather quickly, while Guarnere demonstratively lagged behind, obviously still sulking. God, they had a long way ahead of them before they were ready to go to war.

"We have approximately two hours ahead of us before we'll reach the farm complex", Dick began, keeping his voice down. "I want you and the men on constant vigilance, there might still be troops waiting for us in the woods on the way there. Light and voice discipline is still in effect. Lipton, you take first squad ahead, scouting the way for us. Grant, you'll be in the middle with second squad and Guarnere will bring up the rear with third squad. I'll be in between second and third squad, but you will be in control of the men and order them through the woods as you see fit."

Grant and Guarnere snapped up their heads at that.

"Sir?", Guarnere spoke up, sounding slightly puzzled. "Am I correct to understand that you're delegating authority to us to lead the men? I thought that was your job."

Dick nodded, having struggled with himself over this decision, but then finally accepted that he might not be fully up to the task, the pain in his abdomen being more than just a small distraction. If he wanted to see this through, he would have to trust the noncoms to make the right decisions. Which did not mean that he liked the idea.

"That's correct", Dick answered, noticing the thoughtful look Lipton gave him. "You'll have to learn this anyway, might be better to start rather sooner than later. I'm entrusting you here with a major part of this exercise, so don't let me down. Report back to me if you see anything unusual or if the farm comes into view."

Guarnere and Grant both nodded eagerly. Dick had to tell himself that all three of them, Lipton included, were more than ready for this task. They had trained for this for a long time and they had excellent references as sergeants, even Guarnere, when he put his mind to it.

While Grant and Guarnere trailed back to the men, Lipton stayed behind, looking at Dick pensively.

"What?", Dick asked, the intent gaze making him uneasy.

"You put yourself in the position reserved for the weakest member of the group, between second and third squad", Lipton slowly replied.

"Yeah", Dick acknowledged, feeling a bit miffed that Lipton had seen right through his plan. "Look, you might think me crazy for going through with the exercise, but I still got my wits about me. I know I'm currently not at my best, so I have to delegate. I owe it to the men to finish this maneuver as good as I can. And I can't have them lose faith in me should I be too preoccupied to make the right decisions."

Lipton thought on this for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled.

"So that's what this is all about?", he asked, puzzling Dick with his smile. "You're afraid of the men losing their trust in you?"

"Yeah, I am", Dick admitted, starting to feel annoyed that Lipton thought that funny. "They at least deserve one good leader when we go to war and I need them to fully trust me."

"But they do", Lipton replied, turning serious. "You have no idea how much the men trust you. All of the noncoms in Easy company are ready to hand in their stripes if you were to be transferred out of the company. You keep this all together. The men are scared shitless of the thought of going to battle without at least one officer they can fully trust. You're that officer."

Dick could not help himself, he just stared at Lipton, mouth open.

"I don't understand…", Dick stuttered, then slowly recovered. "Are you sure? Because I see this all a bit differently. Why then is Guarnere acting up all the time, challenging each and every one of my decisions? And from Grant I never hear anything else than 'Yes, sir' and 'No, sir', although everyone tells me what a great strategist he is. They respect me, I know that, but they don't trust me enough."

"The way I see it, sir", Lipton answered carefully, "it's not the men that lack trust, it's you. Guarnere is more than just a little frustrated with you keeping him on a tight leash and Grant knows your penchant for perfection so well, he doesn't dare saying or making anything else beside what's strictly asked of him out of fear of disappointing you. Still, both of them would follow you to the depths of hell and back. So would I and the rest of the men."

This made Dick think hard. Could it be that he had so blatantly been wrong? He had known there were trust issues in his platoon and in the company, he had felt it with all clarity, but the thought had never even crossed his mind that the problem might actually lay with him and not with the men.

"You did the right thing, a few minutes ago", Lipton continued. "A leader has to be honest, before all to himself. You acted upon that honesty and decided to delegate power. And you just showed Guarnere and Grant that you trust their leading skills."

Dick nodded hesitantly, feeling numb. This was all a little crazy. Did he really first need to suffer from this illness and hear these words from his sergeant before realizing that he had some major trust issues concerning his men? Anyway, this night truly turned out to become a night to remember.

"Thank you for your thoughts, Carwood", Dick replied earnestly, slowly packing together his things. "I'll think about what you said."

Lipton nodded, the smile back on his face, then went to the men, gathering first squad. Dick just watched while the sergeants briefed the squads, receiving some curious glances from the men, probably because he kept himself all the while in the background. The longest look he received was from Doc Roe, whose demeanor still spoke of his dissatisfaction with Dick's decision. Lipton ordered first squad to move out and after a few minutes Grant got second squad on the move. Dick then trailed behind them, feeling slightly useless, then Guarnere brought up the rear.

Although the rain had stopped by now, it brought them no relief, their clothes soaking wet and the wind so chilly that Dick was afraid they would give away their position just by the chattering of teeth. The clouds had opened, showing stars and from time to time the bright moon. Just as Dick was mourning the loss of darkness because of the disappearing clouds, second squad in front of him suddenly stopped, crouching down. Reflex instantly brought Dick down as well and even the spiking pain in his side could not keep him from turning around and making sure that third squad was hiding as well. Biting on his lips to hold back a moan, he crept forward past the men to Grant, who hid behind a half-unearthed tree trunk. Dick lowered himself down beside Grant, peering through the roots to Luz from Lipton's squad, who signed them that there was a patrol ahead, fifteen men strong. The patrol was coming right at them, which was why Dick decided to take them out before they were discovered. Signing to first squad that they should follow their lead, Dick then motioned for second squad to get up and attack.

Like one man, second squad stood up, the clicks of their guns being cocked freezing the patrol right in their tracks. Just as the patrol was searching for an exit, Lipton's squad rose up from the dark forest ground as well, making escape impossible.

"You're dead", Dick commented, feeling his pulse rushing in his ears.

"Well done, lieutenant", the leader of the patrol replied in a heavy Southern drawl, lighting himself a cigarette. Dick was sure he did not know him, probably not even a paratrooper. "You got us. So sad for us, we now have to trail back to our cozy beds, sleeping the night away inside. Darn it, I wish we were still in the game and could spend the night outside, freezing our asses of."

The snickers of the patrol men was met with some grumbling from the Easy men, who were shushed immediately by Dick.

"Good for you", Dick answered, not letting himself be goaded. "Let's just hope you take this exercise seriously, because I don't think there will be warm beds waiting for you once we're invading Germany."

The other leader, either a lieutenant or a sergeant, Dick could not tell in the dark, just chuckled at that.

"We'll be sure to enjoy the comfort while we still have it", he replied, then tipped his helmet. "Have fun, parachute boys."

Dick nodded a goodbye, then the the patrol disappeared into the woods.

"Asshole", Perconte muttered, spitting on the ground.

Surprisingly enough, it was Guarnere who called him out on that, since Perconte was in his squad, "Perco, we still have noise discipline, so keep it to yourself."

Dick gave Guarnere a short nod of approval, then they were moving out again.

Dick could almost feel his legs getting heavier with each step, his attention slipping for a few seconds before he concentrated himself again on the task ahead. Since he knew what was ailing him, he sometimes had these nasty visions of something rotten inside him bursting, oozing pus and blood in his stomach. Blast Roe for putting these thoughts in his head!

Trying to think of something else, he reached for his canteen, but then stopped and left it untouched. His throat was parched and he longed to drink some water, but he did not trust his stomach. As long as there was nothing inside, he was fairly sure he could keep the nausea at bay. The minutes wore on and he found himself stumbling more often, his side complaining painfully with each jolty movement.

It would soon be over, it would soon be over, Dick repeated to himself again and again. Maybe he would be able to convince the doctors to let him sleep for a few hours in his bed before the operation once he was back, he felt dead tired.

Suddenly second squad stopped again, bringing Dick out of his haze, senses turning sharp. Just as before he crept forward, seeing Lipton and first squad right in front of him in the moonlight. Only after that he realized that they had reached their goal, the farm was right ahead of them. Dick checked his watch and saw that it was shortly after midnight. They had made good time.

There were three buildings, the main house, a stable and a barn. A fence was running around the buildings and the forest continued almost right to the main houses. A plan already formed in Dick's mind and he was glad the tactical classes had paid out for him. He mentioned for the sergeants to join him.

"Sir", Lipton whispered, "I sent four men to check the perimeter. Everything is dark, they're probably hiding inside. The trees behind the barn would give good cover for a split-up, if you would like to have one."

"Thanks Lip", Dick answered, glad for the competence of his sergeant. "We'll do just that. First squad has most experience, you take them around. But wait for my signal. I'll take the other two squads up front. And I want three men up the trees, they're supposed to give us cover and watch the roofs. Can Shifty climb?"

"Yes, sir", Grant answered, nodding his head.

"Very good. He's the best shot. What about Perconte and Webster?"

"If they don't want to, I'll make them climb", Guarnere drawled. "Quicker than monkeys, you'll see, sir."

"Okay, good", Dick answered, feeling his heart pounding in his chest, the adrenaline droning out his discomfort. "Third squad will move in first, covering second squad. Employ grenades whenever you can. Alright, let's do it."

Of course they had no real ammunition, just mock bullets that made some noise and the grenades spitting smoke.

Dick was surprised how easy everything went. The different squads were moving with a precision that made him feel proud, every man in exactly the position he belonged and the sergeants knowing their squads inside out, following every order from Dick at once. The drill lessons seemed to have paid off, after all. The plan turned out to be good, they had captured the complex and its fifty men strong occupying forces in less than fifteen minutes, with only three "casualties" on their side.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant Winters", the commander of the occupying forces remarked, held at gunpoint. Dick motioned for his men to lower their weapons, since the attack was obviously over. The commander then walked over to the stables and switched on an outside lamp, making them all blink in the sudden bright light. When Dick looked around, he saw the pale and grimy faces of the Easy men, their eyes glowing with the thrill of their success. This was a welcome change to their constant blundering in the field exercises with Sobel.

"You've got the best results so far", the commander continued, fetching a clipboard and taking some notes. Dick could see now that he was a captain from infantry. "You were quick and well-organized. Your superiors will be proud to hear that."

Dick doubted that Sobel would break out in tears of joy when hearing this, but refrained himself from commenting on it, instead just thanked the captain for the compliment. While the paperwork was done, Dick could practically feel the boost of energy from the assault abating, the pain coming back in waves and the sudden weakness in his knees making him unsteady. It would have felt so good to sit down for a while and wait for the dizziness to pass that had him swaying. The captain did not notice anything, but his men were a different story.

"Sir?", Guarnere asked worriedly, suddenly at his elbow and peering at him closely. Dick knew he must by now look terrible, pale and sweaty, but he just shook his face.

"They'll soon be finished and we'll be heading back", he answered, purposely misunderstanding Guarnere's question. The sudden bout of weakness persisted, but he was able to get a better grip on himself.

It was almost two o'clock in the morning when they set out again, now on their way back to the base with a long march ahead of them. With noise and light discipline fallen away, the men were first talking to each other excitedly about their different experiences during the exercise, the joy about their success evident in their voices. But after two or three hours, the voices steadily trailed off, the silence becoming thicker with the tiredness overlaying every move they made.

On top of the general weariness, Dick had his very own battle to fight. The racking pain in his side had him limping by now and clenching his jaw from making a sound. He could not remember ever being in so much pain. His strength was trickling away in a steady flow, he could actually feel himself getting worse by the minute. The fever had risen, making him shiver with chills, and the dizziness had him stumbling. One thought came back to haunt him again and again: he was not going to make it back under his own power.

Just before they reached the edge of the forest, a root in the ground caught Dick's right foot, making him trip. The sudden pull in his side evoked red hot agony and he could not hold back the gasp of pain this movement elicited. It was difficult to say what brought him down in the end, the root or the pain, but fact was that Dick found himself doubled over on his knees. In a burning haze, he barely noticed the men halting around him. A hand on his shoulder finally made him look up and he saw Lipton and Roe kneeling beside him, both their faces pinched with worry.

"Let's take a break, okay?", Lipton asked and Dick just nodded, not trusting his voice. Wetness seeped through his trousers, because he had of all possible places decided to land in a puddle. Lipton and Roe helped him get up and led him over to sit down and lean against a tree trunk. Dick thought the pain would tear him up right then and there. Even breathing hurt, the tiniest movement sent him into new agony. The most excruciating pain was still located in his right side, but the hurt was spreading through half his body, making everything throb with pain, from his knees up to his chest. It probably took only a few minutes, but for Dick it seemed to take ages before he was be able to think straight again. The pain was still there, but resting helped, the throbbing slowly becoming less severe. Dick released a shuddering breath.

"Better?", Roe asked, watching him intently. Dick looked up and then nodded slowly, already starting to feel embarrassed at the attention his not-so-graceful breakdown had raised. It was still dark, but Dick could make out the hovering figures and the low murmuring of his men just a few feet away. Suddenly Guarnere showed up, crouching down between Lipton and Roe.

"Would you mind telling us what this is all about, sir?", he asked, somewhere between worried and pissed off.

Dick looked into the frowning face of Guarnere, then to the men waiting uneasily just a few feet away. Hiding seemed pointless, he had to tell them the truth. They had a right to know, since it became clear that they were stuck with him in the woods.

"Doc Roe thinks it's appendicitis", Dick finally said, loud enough for everyone to hear. He did not care to repeat himself, to anyone, he felt foolish enough saying it once.

The oppressive silence his revelation produced lasted for about ten seconds, then the buzzing started.

"What?", Guarnere asked, a look of disbelief on his face, drowning out other half-muttered utterances from the Easy men such as "Seriously?" and "Come on!".

"Will you shut it?", Lipton snapped to the Easy men with a thunderous voice. "No one asked any of you for your opinion, so keep your comments to yourself. This is serious."

The men immediately obeyed, some of them even having the grace to look abashed. If Dick had been better, he probably would have felt humiliated with Lipton fighting his battles, but there was only so much a man could take and he was more than tired of fighting at the moment.

"Are you sure?", Guarnere asked Roe, turning around to the medic.

"Unfortunately yes, quite sure", the Roe answered.

"So this is it, eh?", Guarnere asked Dick, frowning. "We're breaking this off and call for help?"

"Oh man, I'm sure Sobel will let us repeat the whole fucking maneuver", Luz complained, standing close by and taking his helmet off to scratch his head. "Although we're almost through with it. Such a shame, the only part left is walking back. And we sure practiced that often enough in Toccoa."

"It doesn't matter, George", Lipton replied firmly. "It's not as if one more exercise will do us any harm. The more practice, the better we get."

"No one said we're breaking this off", Dick finally spoke up from where he sat, feeling his control of the situation slipping. Luz was right, they did not deserve to repeat everything just because of him and his stupid appendix. He was tired and he was hurting, but he was not yet ready to give up.

"Here we go again...", Roe sighed, giving Dick an exasperated look. "Sir, how do you imagine returning to the base? You can barely walk."

"Just give me a few minutes and I'll be fine", Dick replied, trying to get across a conviction he did not feel. If he could just switch off the nagging pain in his side for one moment, he was sure he could think of a way to get them back with his dignity intact.

"Fine my ass", Guarnere commented, shaking his head, then suddenly showing that toothy grin of his. "With all due respect, sir, but you're one crazy bastard."

Some of the men chuckled at that, others were too shocked of Guarnere's boldness to utter any sound. Dick was taken aback as well, then suddenly found himself holding back a smile, despite the awkwardness of his situation.

"Thanks, Bill", he answered simply, encouraging some more chuckles.

"What are we going to do?", Lipton spoke up, bringing them back on topic.

"Roe, can't you just cut that thing out yourself here and now?", Perconte suggested, lifting his shoulders questioningly.

Dick shuddered at the thought, but the medic beat him to answering.

"Are you stupid?", Roe replied, his calm demeanor suddenly turning fierce. "I'm a medic, not a fucking surgeon! You know, people study that for years on an end, that's why they earn so much money, okay? And even if I knew what to do, you can't just cut up someone in the middle of the woods!"

"Okay, okay, it was just an idea...", Perconte replied sulkily, shuffling his feet.

"Easy, boys, we need clear heads here", Lipton tried to calm down the men. "We had a long night, I know you're all tired, but there's no need for going at each other's throat. Let's just think for one moment."

"Lieutenant Winters", Bull spoke up, after having kept silent for almost the whole night. Everyone knew that he was not a big talker and if he did open his mouth, it must be important. "I know this is your decision to make, sir, not mine. But if you want to hear my advice: call this exercise off. We'll repeat it, no big deal."

Dick looked at the big soldier, whom he knew to be one of the best of this company, and felt his resolve crumbling. What could he do? He was sure he was unable to walk back and he would never order his men to carry him, just out of selfish pride. Then why was it so difficult to accept that he needed help?

"I wanted this maneuver to turn out perfect", Dick slowly said, trying to look the men into the eyes, but it was still too dark to see their faces clearly, although a faint grey of morning was slowly creeping in. "I thought this was the time to prove myself to you and show you that you're the best men this army has to offer, when led properly. And you did what was asked of you and more, your sergeants doing an excellent job. All of you made me proud today. But I shall be the cause for you to fail all the same? You don't deserve that. Just picturing the look of glee on Sobel's face when we come back unsuccessful..."

Dick abruptly cut himself off. Damn it, he had not intended to say that last bit out loud. In all the grumblings against Sobel he had never taken stance against their CO, since he had not wanted to be the one to undermine his authority. As it seemed the men did not mind his rather open comment about Sobel at all, the chuckling surprising Dick.

"Careful, sir", Luz threw in playfully, "you might actually come across as human, complaining about your superior and all that."

Dick tried to explain himself, then felt a sudden stab of pain in his stomach that had him biting his lips from making a sound.. He pressed a hand more firmly against his side, breathing shallowly until the throb abated somewhat.

"Alright, I see, you're really allergic to let our boys from base drag your ass back there, sir", Guarnere drawled, something akin to appreciation in his voice. "What about this: we're soldiers and we're training for war, so it's obvious that one or the other of us will get wounded eventually. We learned about evacuation protocol and all that, but we never practiced it. How about starting now? We can pretend we're surrounded, no air or land support, so we have to get to the base all by ourselves."

"That's not too bad an idea...", Lipton remarked slowly, obviously already going through the theory in his head. "Sir, where's the map?"

"In my backpack", Dick reluctantly answered, while suddenly being wrapped in a blanket by Roe.

"Evacuation protocol, sir", Roe replied in answer to the puzzled look Dick gave him. "The wounded has to be kept warm."

"I'm not wounded...", Dick tried to explain, but was cut off by Guarnere.

"Well, it probably won't earn you a purple heart, sir", the sergeant replied wryly, while flashing a light on the map Lipton was holding. "But you'll receive a nice scar all the same. The ladies will like it."

Baffled, Dick rang for words, then exclaimed, "I've not even given my consent to this plan!"

"You don't have to, sir", Lipton explained, looking quite pleased with himself. "As soon as an officer is too wounded or ill to perform his duty, the second-in-command takes over. That would be me, presently. And I say we're going through with evacuation protocol."

Dick sputtered. What was this? Some kind of revolution?

"Just relax, we'll take care of it from here", Guarnere replied, being unable to hold back a grin.

"You can't do that...", Dick tried again to be heard, while Roe had procured from who knows where a second blanket and wrapped it around him even more tightly than the first one, making Dick feel for all the world like a mummy.

"Sir, it's either evacuation protocol or a call for help to the base. You choose", Lipton said, shortly looking up from the map.

Dick just stared at him, feeling more helpless than he had in a long time. Receiving no answer, Lipton just nodded, satisfied, and went back to studying the map.

"Should I make tea for him?", Shifty asked Roe right over Dick's head.

"No, he shouldn't drink anything, but thanks for asking", the medic replied. Dick just wondered if he had turned invisible as well, on top of everything else.

Lipton, Guarnere and Grant had put their heads together, discussing their options in low voices. Dick tried to listen in, but he could not make out what they were saying.

"Could you at least let me in on the plan?", he asked, trying not to sound too petulant.

"Of course, sir", Lipton replied smoothly, looking up. "There's a farm not too far from here. Chuck's going to see if they got a car we could lend, then comes back to pick us up. Gene, Bull and I will bring you to the road, while Bill takes the rest of the men at a quick pace in direction of the base. We'll meet up on the street and will hopefully be able to arrive at the base all at the same time."

The three sergeants at least had the grace to wait for Dick's nod of approval, before they set their plan into operation.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"What took you so long?", Eugene asked Grant impatiently, while settling Winters down on the backseat of the bright red Chevy, so he could lie there almost stretched out. Having done that, Eugene squeezed himself in to kneel awkwardly beside Winters on the floor of the car. Their lieutenant's condition had worsened in the last two hours, he was deadly pale and only their combined effort and steady support during the walk to the street had kept him from just curling up under some bush in the woods. He had also become awfully quiet, hardly speaking more than two words on their journey to the street and their long wait for Grant to return with the car. For Eugene it seemed like Winters had withdrawn deeply into himself while trying to deal with his pain.

"It wasn't my fault!", Grant exclaimed, while Lipton got in to sit in the passenger's seat and Bull had to content himself with the luggage trunk. "They wouldn't give me their Chevy, I almost had to talk their ears off to reassure them that this is an emergency and that I would bring their car back."

"It's alright, just drive", Lipton commanded in a clipped voice, then turned around to look at Winters. "Sir, we'll be back at the base in no time at all. Just hold on."

Winters nodded faintly, face pinched with pain.

"How's he doing?", Grant asked quietly, looking in the rear mirror at the hunched form of their lieutenant.

"Not good", Eugene answered, feeling for the upteenth time Winters's forehead. He was burning up, the high fever worrying Eugene. The playful mood they had been in when setting out to put their evacuation plan into practice was all but gone. Eugene had known that the lieutenant had already been in quite a poor shape when he had diagnosed him with appendicitis, but the medic was still surprised at how quickly he had taken a turn for the worse. This was slowly getting really serious. Eugene suspected that the appendix was already ruptured and the infection spreading in Winter's body. There was nothing he could do now, but he deeply regretted not having called for help while everything had still been under control.

Grant was driving quite fast on the bumpy road, but still looked back to them and promptly failed to notice a pot-hole that jolted the car and elicited from Winters a low moan of pain.

"Could you watch the road and try not to get us killed?", Eugene hissed, rubbing his head where he had banged it on the door.

"Sorry", Grant mumbled, concentrating again on the road. At least it was not dark anymore, a dreary morning having followed the night. It must be shortly after eight, they would be back at the base earlier than planned. But Eugene could not have cared less, all he wanted to do was bring Winters to a hospital and then go to bed.

"Can't you give him something for the pain?", Grant asked Eugene after some minutes of silence.

"If I had something with me, I would have given it to him already", Eugene answered. "It's all the fault of these idiots from Able, they used all their morphine on themselves, now regiment decided that the medics wouldn't need any in the exercises. All I have now with me is some aspirin, but that's like trying to extinguish a bush fire with a glass of water."

They drove some time in silence, an endless row of meadows flitting past the window. Eugene looked back down to Winters and saw that he had pressed his eyes shut, breathing uneven and labored, and sweat trailing down his brow. Taking out a bandage, Eugene wetted the fabric with water from his canteen and wiped the lieutenant's forehead. Eyes glazed over with pain and fever opened at the touch.

"How are you holding up, sir?", Eugene questioned softly, trying to quench a sudden flare of fear at how ashen Winters looked. Like a corpse.

"...fine...", the lieutenant whispered, wincing in pain and shutting his eyes again.

Of course. Why had Eugene even bothered asking? He had received the same answer the last three times he had asked, just every time a bit weaker. At least no one could claim that Winters was a whiner. Catching Lipton's worried glance directed at them, Eugene just answered him by shrugging helplessly. There was absolutely nothing he could do and it slowly drove him insane.

"But he's going to be fine, right?", Grant spoke up hesitantly. That was exactly the question the others had tried to avoid for the past hour.

"Of course he is", Eugene answered, maybe just a tad too quickly. "It's just an appendicitis. They're probably treating that at the base every day."

That was most likely correct, but Eugene knew very well that they would have needed to bring Winters to the hospital hours and hours ago for this to be treated like a regular appendicitis. They had waited too long, there was a high risk of complications now. If the infection had already spread into the blood stream, this was probably it. Surgery and meds would come too late. And even if the infection had not spread already, there was the danger of lasting damage to the abdomen, which would probably end Winter's military career. Eugene tried to put these troubling worst case scenarios out of his head, only half succeeding. Well, what he was sure about was that Winters would be down for a long time, much longer than if Eugene had succeeded in talking him out of going through with the maneuver. But there was no point in regret, they could not go back.

He was not even sure why he was so upset, because of Winters himself, the fact that this was his first serious case or because he just hated to see people suffer. Probably a mix of all three things. He liked the lieutenant alright, but there was nothing like a deep friendship or some kind of emotional bond between them. Winters was his superior and like everyone else in this company, Eugene had found it quite hard to figure out their lieutenant or getting to know him better. It was difficult to face Winters with anything else but respect. Eugene also knew about the nickname the lieutenant had in their company: Red Machine. Precise, unflinching, emotionless.

However, Eugene knew that Winters was far away from being this inhumane automaton like some of the men wanted to paint him. The lieutenant cared deeply about this company, the responsibility of having to lead them into this war not resting lightly on his shoulders. But the only hints that spoke for this compassionate side of Winters was a concerned look every once in while, a frown that suggested annoyance or a slight twitch of lips that conveyed amusement. For people less observant than Eugene, all these signs might be overlooked, Winters appearing for them cold and detached. Eugene suspected that the lieutenant had built up all these walls for his own protection, not trusting anyone with what was going on inside him.

A faint moan beside him woke Eugene from his thoughts. Winters was by now rigid with pain, curled up on his side with both arms slung tightly around his stomach, as if he could keep away the agony this way. It was a shame that the first, but massive chink in Winter's armor had to be this illness, that showed everyone in a blatant way that their "Red Machine" was very much capable of human feelings.

"We're almost there, sir", Eugene soothed, his heart suddenly going out to his gravely ill lieutenant. "I can already see the hill beside the base. We'll be at the hospital in less than ten minutes."

He did not know if Winters had heard him, because he received no answer.

"There is Bill with the rest of second platoon", Lipton remarked, pointing at the troops walking at a brisk pace in front of them on the street. Grant honked, then reduced speed to drive slowly past the men, winding down the window. Eugene could see that his comrades were at the end of their strength, some of them dragging their feet and just stumbling along. Guarnere must have kept a tight regime to have made such good time in getting them back.

"Hey, can't we change places?", Luz begged exhaustedly while they drove past him, but Bull just waved at him with a faint smile.

"Nice ride", Guarnere commented when they reached him up front. The sergeant's face was sweaty and dirty like everyone else's, but there was still an iron grin on his lips. "Hope you did not forget the picnic."

"Can you get them to move still faster?", Lipton asked him, not reacting to the banter.

Guarnere sobered up instantly, peering into the car at Winters.

"That bad, huh?", he asked, frowning. "I'll see what I can do."

Under much complaining and groaning, the sergeant forced the tired men into a jog, trailing after the car. They reached the secured entrance of the base not five minutes later. As expected, the civilian car was stopped by the armed guards, who looked so baffled it might have been funny under different circumstances.

"What's the meaning of this?", a lieutenant asked, peering inside the car and obviously seeing uniformed soldiers.

"Sir, this is an emergency", Lipton explained. "We're from second platoon, Company E, 506th Parachute Infantry..."

"Yeah, I know who you are", the lieutenant interrupted, waving a hand impatiently. "But you're not expected back until 1100 hours. It's 0845 hours now. You're early, sergeant, and I have orders from Captain Sobel not to let you in until exactly 1100 hours. And no one said anything about a car."

"Sir", Lipton tried again, looking intently into the eyes of the lieutenant. "We need to get to the military hospital right away, this is an emergency..."

"Look", the lieutenant interrupted again, frowning. "It's always an emergency. Even the cooks bring in their potatoes as an emergency. Until I've spoken with Captain Sobel..."

"Damn it, our platoon leader is dying in here while you blabber on, for Christ's sake!", Eugene could not hold himself back from bursting out from the back seat. He was so angry he could feel himself shaking from head to toe. "We need to get to the fucking hospital, now!"

The lieutenant stared at Eugene with big eyes, only slowly comprehending that he was shouted at by some medic.

"You!", the lieutenant snarled, pointing at Eugene. "I won't tolerate this disrespect. I want your name and..."

"What's going on here?", a new voice cut in and Eugene could see Sobel bending down and looking into the car.

"Sir, we have an emergency situation here", Lipton tried to explain again in a calm voice, after having directed a glare at Eugene to get him to leave the talking to him. "Lieutenant Winters fell ill with appendicitis during the exercise, we need to get him to the military hospital right now. His condition is very bad."

Sobel peered through the open window at the hunched form of Winters on the back seat.

"You know, Sergeant Lipton", the captain began slowly. "Appendicitis is the illness that's most often faked in military service. That's statistics. You can complain a bit of stomach pain and you receive the week off. It's so easy."

Eugene felt himself bristling, but a warning look from Lipton kept his mouth shut. How could the captain seriously think that Winters was faking his condition? Everyone with eyes in his head could see that their lieutenant's appearance practically screamed for a hospital.

"Sir, we're very sure that Lieutenant Winters is really suffering from appendicitis", Lipton explained, battling for calmness. "Medic Roe has confirmed it and the lieutenant is running a high fever. He really needs medical attention right away."

"You won't die of appendicitis within an hour or two", Sobel commented derisively, then suddenly turned loud. "This is no excuse at all for the entrance you made. You're more than two hours early and you arrive here in a civilian car. Do you know how bad this makes me look? You failed this exercise and you bring shame on Easy company. It would have been better for us if you had not returned at all, seeing that..."

"Captain Sobel", a much welcomed voice clipped in. Colonel Sink suddenly appeared in Eugene's field of view, standing beside Sobel. "Maybe you're judging the lads a bit harshly. If an emergency required them to return earlier, then protocol states that immediate help shall be given to them. This is more important than some exercise."

Sobel looked at the colonel sourly, while Sink bent down to look at Winters.

"Lieutenant Winters?", the colonel spoke softly and frowningly. A faint moan of pain was the only answer he received.

"He's very bad off, sir", Eugene explained, feeling a bit self-conscious under the gaze of the colonel. "He might die if he doesn't receive immediate medical care, sir."

"And we wouldn't want that to happen", Sink answered, giving Eugene a tight smile, then continued much louder, "Get Lieutenant Winters to the military hospital right away. Guards, let them through!"

-TBC-


	3. Chapter 3

_Many thanks to my lovely reviewers, __**BatOutOfHell-Madness**__ (hehe, don't count on every chapter to be as long as the last one, but I'm doing my best here...And yeah, Sobel is definitely not my favorite, either), __**beth-rodrigues.77**__ (yeah, I know, I'm really cruel to Dick, but it's just so much fun to torture him...), __**ChocAndSnow19**__ (Yes, that last chapter was tough, but I'll be much nicer to Dick in the future, since he'll soon have some lovely company... The most interesting thing about Doc Roe is that he's normally all quiet and shy, but just don't aggravate him when he wants to help someone or he'll give you a piece of his mind :-)) and __**indifferentshell**__ (Hey, wonderful of you join this story! :-) Hehe, glad you liked the light-hearted scenes as well, I'll try to keep a bit of a balance between drama and humor, although this story is definitely leaning more towards drama. Also very glad you liked the men's insights on Dick, I wasn't all that sure if it would work the way I wanted!)._

_Folks, it's really cool to see that this story is actually read and reviewed, you really make my day. _

_Here's chapter three, hope you enjoy!_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Dick hazily remembered Colonel Sink ordering him to be brought to the military hospital, but everything that happened afterwards was more than just a bit blurry in his recollection. Someone had found a stretcher and they hurried him across the base, the jostling almost making Dick go mad with pain. He tasted blood in his mouth from the force with which he bit on his lips to keep from making a sound. Seeking a way to deal with the pain, he had curled into a tight ball, all the while desperately trying to shield his side from the fiery agony from within. But he was sure he was fighting a losing battle, the pain slowly becoming too much for him.

He was not even fully certain who brought him to the hospital, his vision all but tunneled at this stage. Lipton was there, Roe as well and maybe even Guarnere and Bull. The noise they made, shouting for help just after entering the emergency ward, at least brought a doctor running to his side right away.

The doctor tried to get him to lie on his back for the examination, but the pain spiked to new found peaks as soon as his stomach was stretched out only a tiny little bit, making Dick struggle against the hands that tried to keep him in place, intensifying the agony even more. Deep down, he knew that he needed to keep still and that the doctor was only trying to help him, but with the high fever clouding his mind and the racking pains in his side, he just could not help himself, he tried to throw off the hands. Someone was talking to him soothingly – Lipton? Roe? – and was trying to get him to calm down, while the others had managed to keep him immobilized for the examination.

They had pushed up his clothes, baring his abdomen, then the doctor started palpating his right side, making Dick gasp and whimper with pain. His struggling became even more desperate while trying to get away from the agony that almost made him black out. The examination took only a few moments, the case obviously rather clear for the doctor, but for Dick it seemed to last for ages. The iron grip on his arms and legs suddenly fell away and he immediately curled into a tight ball again, for this was the only position he could halfway tolerate at this point. He felt his stomach turn and before he knew it he was heaving from the sheer pain he was in. Someone was supporting him and someone else was holding a steel basin under his nose, even though Dick brought up nothing but bile and a small trickle of fluid.

In his tiny world of agony, Dick heard the doctor snap only three words, "Emergency surgery, now!" A nurse was suddenly at his side, sticking an IV in his arm, and then the doctor approached him with a syringe in his hand. Of everything that happened before and after that, Dick could remember this moment the best. The needle slipped into his arm and he could feel the cool liquid spread through his body. The fuzzy warmth and the coziness that followed in its wake made him almost sob with relief. He felt the rigid tension go out of his body, his limbs growing heavier with each deep breath he took. The angry pain was slowly ebbing away, the morphine lifting him from the fiery depths of hell to the soaring heights of heaven. He could have sworn he heard angels singing, somewhere.

The relief must have shown on his face, because he was sure he heard the people around him release their pent up breaths. Dick forced open his eyes, and blinked at the men standing around the examination table, trying to get them into focus, but not really succeeding. It did not matter. Everything felt velvety and the world was peacefully spinning around him in lazy circles.

"…thanks, doc…", Dick murmured sluggishly, feeling a deep, heartfelt gratitude towards the doctor, but having trouble to form the words and keep his eyes open. "…thanks… that's… very… very… nice…"

He heard some chuckling, then a hand shook his shoulder gently. Dick struggled to open his eyes, not even realizing they must have fallen close on their own accord, seeing a worried looking Nix leaning over him.

"Hey Dick", his friend greeted him wryly and a bit out of breath. "Heard you got yourself in some trouble."

Dick tried to smile reassuringly at him, the corners of his mouth feeling funnily gummy.

"…'m fine… Nix", he answered, his tongue not really cooperating with him. He tried to speak again, but the pull of the morphine was stronger and he got lost in his own hazy mind, forgetting what he was about to say.

He could not tell how much time had passed until they came to get him. He had dozed in the mean time, waking only when they lifted him on a gurney. A short, sharp pain in his side remembered him why he was there at all, before the morphine evened out every discomfort. They rolled him down a floor and Dick did not even realize when they gave him the anesthesia for surgery.

Some time later – hours, days, centuries, who cared? – Dick slowly became aware of himself again. He was lying on something soft, feeling crisp sheets beneath his hand. He felt oddly weightless, not really sure if he was awake or dreaming. What had happened? Everything was so fuzzy, he had no clue where he was or what he was doing here.

He must have made some kind of sound, because he heard rustling beside himself and then the sound of a chair being dragged closer to where he was lying.

"Dick?", a familiar voice inquired softly. "Are you awake?"

Ask that someone else, Dick thought, he was after all wondering about the very same thing himself. He was halfway back to dreamland again, when the voice asked again, sounding slightly worried, "Dick?"

Now, why would this person be worried? Dick found himself frowning with the effort of trying to put the voice to the person it belonged.

"I know you're awake", he heard again, a smile now overlaying the worry in the voice. "You're scrunching up your face, you know."

Now definitely curious, Dick tried to blink open his eyes, a task that was more difficult than he remembered, with his eyelids suddenly turned to lead. A blurry blotch with dark hair was the first thing that came into view.

"Ah, I knew you weren't going to sleep forever", the blotch commented drily, turning with a few blinks of Dick's eyes into the grinning, but still rather hazy Nix. "Good morning."

"…morning?", Dick croaked out, his voice hardly above a whisper. His throat felt like sandpaper and his tongue seemed to be made out of cotton. What. Had. Happened?

"Are you wishing me a good morning in return or are you asking me if it _is_ morning?", Nix asked, making a mock-thoughtful face.

Dick looked blearily at his friend, trying to make sense of the different sounds coming out of Nix's mouth, but his mind was too jumbled to comprehend any meaning behind them. Looking around sluggishly, he saw an ugly curtain that was drawn around the bed he was lying in, separating it from the rest of the room. In his hand stuck an IV needle and he saw a drip beside his bed.

"…hospital?", he weakly asked, his unresponsive tongue garbling even the one word.

"God, you're really out of it, aren't you?", Nix commented, big grin plastered on his face. "I know the feeling, too. You're waking up in some strange place, no idea how you got there. The only difference is that in my case, there's always an empty bottle of Vat 69 beside me. And if it's a really good morning, a naked girl."

The curtain swished open and a dark-haired nurse stepped up to the bed, giving Nix a disapproving look, obviously having heard the last part.

"Lieutenant Nixon", the nurse said long-sufferingly, "this really isn't the place for bragging about your sexual exploits. If they actually happened."

If Dick had been conscious enough, he would have taken great delight in the suddenly abashed look on his friend's face, because it was an unusual feat to get Nix to shut up. But Dick was still woozily wondering about which way was up and which way down, he certainly was not awake enough to follow the conversation.

"How are you doing, Lieutenant Winters?", the nurse then asked Dick, her demeanor turning much more gentle, while she bent down to him.

She had nice eyes, brown and warm, with long lashes. And soft hands, he thought to himself, when she felt his forehead, then realized that his thoughts were wandering and that she had asked a question.

"..fine…", he muttered weakly, knowing by now that speaking more than one word at a time was out of question.

"Are you in pain?", she asked caringly.

Now that she mentioned it, Dick became aware of the dull ache in his right side and remembered at the same time why he was in hospital. The pain was not the searing agony it had been before, but he had a good guess that the humming of morphine in his veins had something to do with that.

"No…", he answered laboriously. Talking really took too much energy, he already felt his eyelids grow heavy again.

"That's good to hear", the nurse answered warmly, while Dick slowly lost the struggle against his eyelids. "Just get some more rest. And you, Lieutenant Nixon, will let him sleep or I will remove you from this ward before you can even…"

Dick never heard the end of her threat, because he was slowly spiraling down into the blackness of sleep again.

The next time he came awake, he was drawn out of the coziness of a heavy slumber by two voices, lowly talking to each other. At least this time he realized from the beginning where he was and what had happened, although his mind was still more than just a little fuzzy.

"Welcome back, sir", Lipton greeted him with a warm smile, when Dick managed to open his eyes. Beside him sat Nix, obviously not having left his side, giving him a tight smile.

"Carwood", Dick greeted the other man slowly, his voice still sounding weak, but functioning better than last time. He shifted slightly in bed, then stopped immediately, because the movement woke pain in his side. Out of a reflex, his hand tried to sneak to the source of hurt, but Nix was quicker, catching Dick's hand in his own.

"Careful", his friend cautioned, somehow more solemn than the last time Dick had been awake. "You've got tubes sticking out of your belly."

"Tubes?", Dick repeated sluggishly, feeling as if his brain had frozen over.

"Yeah, tubes", Nix answered seriously, frowning. "Your appendix was already ruptured when they brought you in. They got out what was left of it, but had to set a drain. Which would not have happened if you had decided to be reasonable and come here to get that little fucker out the moment the pain started."

Was there a reproach somewhere hidden in that remark? Thinking was so very exhausting with his head swimming. His eyes felt itchy and sandy, it would have been a relief to rub them. But when he tried to lift his arm he found that his coordination was completely off, his muscles only barely reacting to his wishes.

"Dick, did you hear what I said?", Nix tried again to pierce the haze of what was Dick's mind, sounding frustrated. "You're lucky to be alive and lucky to make a full recovery. Had you waited two or three hours longer, this might not have been the case. And Lipton here just told me that you knew what was ailing you for hours before you came to get help. Dick, you almost died because of a fucking appendicitis, you get that?"

Dick blinked slowly at Nix's intent glare, then nodded his head, making the world spin around him.

"You mad?", he asked wearily and with more than just a little confusion, already feeling the pull of sleep again. God, he felt like he could sleep for a week straight.

"Yeah!", Nix acknowledged, definitely pissed off, but trying to hold himself back for his friend's sake. "I don't actually like my best friend doing something stupid and almost getting himself killed in the process. How would you feel about it if our roles were reversed?"

Dick tried to think about it, he really did, but he could not string two thoughts together. His side had started throbbing fiercely, and his head was riding a merry-go-round. On top of it all, he now felt the fever again, a sudden chill making him shiver. Maybe it was just the morphine wearing off, but he did not feel so good right then.

"It's alright", Lipton tried to calm down Nix, probably seeing that Dick had reached the end of his strength. "We'll have a lot of time to discuss what happened, it needn't be right now."

"Thanks, Lip", Dick whispered weakly, just longing to go back to sleep and flee from the soreness that was his body.

"Alright", Nix conceded, but still looking upset. "Get some more rest, I'll come to visit you tomorrow."

Dick nodded gratefully, then closed his eyes, falling asleep before the others even had the chance to say their goodbyes.

It was in the middle of the night when Dick woke up again, believing this was the end, he would die right then and there. He was shaking uncontrollably, at the same time sweating from all pores. The pain was back in his side, stabbing and twisting with the mad rhythm of his trembling body. His equilibrium seemed to be riding an ocean storm, the dizziness so bad he could not tell right from left or up from down, making him sick to the stomach. Panic welled up inside him, he wanted to shout for help, but nothing came out but a shuddering gasp, his lungs all empty. He tried to get up instead, but that was totally out of question, even lifting his head proved to be too great a strain for his abdomen, pain and weakness bringing him back down flat on his back. Breathing was difficult, thinking impossible.

Just when he was about to accept that his short time on earth was drawing to an end, the curtain around his bed swished open and the small lamp on his nightstand was switched on. The dark-haired nurse from earlier on stood there, the light from the lamp illuminating her features, looking for Dick's frantic mind like a guardian angel.

"Oh my", she sighed, totally unfazed by Dick's trembling form and labored breathing, bending over him and taking his vitals with the same demeanor his mother used to display while making coffee on Sunday evening. "Your blood pressure has just about gone on holidays."

Dick stared at her out of wide eyes, gasping for breath, while he was frozen to the bed by pain and dizziness, thinking he might faint or die every second.

"Just breathe, struggling will make it worse", the nurse calmed him in a gentle voice. "This is just an episode, probably a side effect from the anesthesia. It is uncomfortable, I know, but you'll be just fine." Then she turned around to another nurse, that had just arrived at Dick's bed and said to her, "Jean, go and get me something for circulatory troubles and some pain meds. Be quick about it."

As if in a haze, Dick watched both nurses leave his field of view, feeling more alone than he had in a long time, repressing the urge to call out to them. The trembling had not lessened, aggravating the agony in his side. A small moan escaped his lips, the shivering making it sound more like a staccato than an utterance of pain.

"Shhh, it's going to be fine", his guardian angel soothed, coming back to his bed with at least three pillows and an extra blanket. Before Dick knew what happened, he felt his legs being lifted carefully and propped up on the pillows. The movement elicited new pain in his side, since he could feel the tubes in his abdomen being jarred. Next he felt the blanket being draped around him, then the mattress dipped gently, when the nurse sat down on the bed beside him.

"Feeling a bit better now?", she asked, wiping the cold sweat from his face, then feeling his forehead. Despite the pain he was in, Dick noticed that her touch was feathery light and soft, oddly contrasting to her otherwise brisk and no-nonsense manner.

"...m-m-mayb-e-e... a-a... l-little-e...", Dick ground out through chattering teeth, not really feeling all that much better, but hesitant to let her know that her ministrations were more or less futile. And after all, her presence and her reassurance already helped him keep the panic at bay.

He could see her smile a little at that, starting to rub his arms and chest through the blanket to let the blood flow back to where it was needed. Even through the fabric, her touch was soothing, leaving his skin tingling in the wake of her hands. Some warmth flooded back into his body and Dick felt his breathing grow more easy.

"I don't think I introduced myself yet", the nurse said, smiling down at him with brown eyes that twinkled warmly, while continuing to rub his arms. "My name is Lizzie."

Flabbergasted at the turn of events, Dick could for a moment just stare up at her from his awkward position, flat on his back with his legs propped up on who knew how many pillows, then stuttered, "P-pleased to m-meet you. Richard... W-Winters." Then he suddenly felt it improper to introduce himself as a civilian, and added laboriously, "F-first... lieutenant."

A peal of laughter was the first answer he received from her at that.

"I know that", she answered, still chuckling lightly to herself. "I filled out your admission papers. I even know your birthday. But I understand if you can't remember anything of it, you were in a bad shape when they brought you in."

Her voice had taken on a sympathetic tone, but it did not save Dick from feeling like a complete fool.

"Don't worry", she tried to appease him, smiling a bit, as if to apologize for making him feel embarrassed. "After all that you've been through in the last 24 hours you're allowed to feel a bit out of it."

Dick just nodded, holding on to the last shreds of dignity left to him in this position. He did not feel up to replying, with the chills still racking his body and the pain in his side far from abating.

"Where are you from?", Lizzie suddenly asked, looking at him earnestly with her big brown eyes, jolting him a bit from his misery.

Dick pondered a moment if he should ask her back why she wanted to know, she might after all look this up in his admission papers. Then he decided it would need too much strength to get all these words out.

"Pennsylvania", he just answered, a bit breathlessly.

"Country boy, eh?", she inquired again, smiling a little. He just nodded, suddenly feeling his world tilt some more, the dizziness getting worse. Where was that other nurse with his meds?

"Is there a girl waiting for you back home?", Lizzie asked again, her eyes dancing merrily.

Again, Dick was so baffled he had to hold himself back from sputtering, the pain and discomfort all but forgotten.

"Are you... h-hitting on me?", he then forced out, at least getting back some of his wit.

Another peal of laughter answered him.

"No", she responded lively, getting up from the bed, "just trying to distract you from your condition until Jean is back. Does it work?"

Dick stared at her, then numbly nodded his head, even missing the return of the other nurse.

"Ah, here you are", Lizzie stated, turning to the one called Jean and taking two syringes out of her hand. "Took you long enough."

"This will help boost your blood pressure", Lizzie explained, all business again. "Your circulation should be back to normal in no time at all."

The first needle slipped into Dick's arm. It took maybe ten seconds before his surroundings started to settle down, the dizziness slowly disappearing. The shivering stopped soon after that and even breathing became easier.

"And here's something that will help you with a good night's sleep", Lizzie commented, and gave him the second injection. Dick felt the by now familiar warmth of morphine racing through his body and could not restrain himself from sighing with relief. The pain slowly trickled away, becoming unimportant, and just before he drifted off, he heard Lizzie's voice close at his ear, "Okay, maybe I was hitting on you, just a tiny little bit. But you won't remember this part of our conversation anyway, thanks to the morphine... Sweet dreams."

-tbc-


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks very much to the wonderful reviewers: a __**Guest **__(glad you like Lizzie!), __**indifferentshell **__(Wow, such a long review, I couldn't believe my eyes! Glad my English isn't too terrible... Hehe, yes, Nix can't be left out too long, I just like him way too much. Happy that you liked the interaction between Lizzie and Dick, and you know, maybe I'll even let him remember what she said that night... :-))), __**beth-rodrigues.77**__ (Yes, I confess, I really, really, really like to torture Dick... Hehe, but I'll also be nice to him, you'll see :-))), __**BatOutOfHell-Madness **__(I hope you weren't getting too impatient with me, but at least I did update now. It'll probably be some time until Dick is back with his men, but they'll play a major part in this story and I won't forget them...), __**ChocAndSnow19**__ (Thanks for the compliment! I love to write drama and then it's even better to know that it's actually appreciated. No, really, I could NEVER kill Dick, I promise. Glad you like Lizzie, she'll be around now, although I give you the small spoiler that it won't just be peace and happiness for the two of them for the rest of the story... ;-))) and __**Amanda**__ (Hehe, glad you enjoyed and welcome to the story!)._

_Ladies (and probably not all that many gentlemen...), I present Chapter 4! As always, hope you enjoy!_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next two days passed as if in a haze. Dick was sleeping most of the time, only being woken up by the frequent check-ups that had him wishing he was already asleep again. He could not remember seeing the dark-haired nurse, Lizzie, again, almost believing his foggy mind had made up the strange encounter in the first night of his stay. Instead, almost every time he was awake he saw either a blond, matronly nurse in her thirties with rather rough bedside manners, picking at the tubes in his abdomen until he was clenching his teeth in pain, or the doctor that had operated him, who was scrutinizing his work while chain-smoking one cigarette after the other. Dick also hazily remembered seeing Nix at his bedside, his friend unusually quiet, not saying one word in the time he was there.

On the morning of his fourth day at the hospital, the fog in his mind slowly started to dissipate. Dick woke up on his own, not being jarred out of sleep by the torture of the Valkyrie (as he had found himself dubbing the blond nurse) like the mornings before, feeling definitely on the mend. The high fever that had plagued him before and had brought him some disturbing dreams, was finally coming down. The pain was still there in his side, but more as a dull remainder of the past agony. All things considered, he was not feeling too bad.

The curtain was still firmly drawn around his bed and Dick found himself for the first time awake enough to think about this place. He must be in some kind of hall, he could hear the muffled sound of voices. There were probably two or three more patients in the ward. Shuddering, Dick found himself imagining what this place would look like in a few months, after the invasion had started. Probably not as quiet. Everything was still in training and in setting up, the military hospital included.

He also wondered how long he would have to stay. Hopefully not longer than a week, he really could not miss the vital parts of the training that awaited him in the next two months. As far as he knew, an invasion was planned for next spring or summer, which would mean that their program was crammed. There was hardly a worse timing for getting sick, he could not lag behind in training.

Just before Dick decided to go back to sleep again, because there was really nothing else to do and he was starting to feel drowsy again, the curtain was drawn open, revealing Lizzie, head down and concentrated on what must be his medical record. The short moment she was still immersed in the reading, Dick had the time to come to terms with the fact that she actually existed and study her features. The warm brown eyes were what had captured his attention first, matching the brown of her hair that was crammed under a blue nurse cap. She had a rather large mouth, that seemed quick to laugh, which contrasted with her high forehead that gave her a slightly brooding look. Her stature was neither too short nor too tall, ranging somewhere in the area of what could boringly be called "normal". Dick found his gaze being drawn to her hands, maybe her most striking feature beside her eyes. They were white, with long fingers, and she held them with a natural grace while skimming through the sheets. She suddenly looked up and promptly caught him staring.

"Oh, First Lieutenant Winters is awake", she remarked dryly, deftly reminding him of that awkward moment in the night. "And here it says you sleep all the time."

Thanks, that was exactly the part of their encounter Dick had tried to block out. He suspected that she was only teasing him, but he could not help feeling foolish again under her twinkling gaze.

"Lizzie, right?", he asked, his voice still rather weak, but trying to make it sound steady, while pretending he did not understand the meaning behind her comment.

"Yeah, right", she replied, suddenly a tiny little bit suspicious. "You remembered."

Yes, he remembered her name and bits and pieces of their conversation. But that night was more than just slightly hazy in his recollection, feeling more like a dream to him.

"Okay", she then said professionally, when Dick made no move to continue the conversation. "Let's see how you're doing. You surely look better than last time I saw you. How're you feeling?"

"I feel better", he answered truthfully.

"How is it with the pain?", she asked, her brown eyes meeting his gently.

"Fine", he replied, then inquired hesitantly, "How long do I have to stay?"

This made her snort.

"Already anxious to get out of here?", she asked, shaking her head to herself. "Then it would probably be better if I don't answer that question, it would only depress you."

"And if I still want to know?", he pried, feeling slightly annoyed he did not receive a clear answer. This was really important.

"Alright", she answered, sighing and setting down the clip board on the nightstand. "Let's see: you're still feverish, you've got tubes sticking out of your body that will have to be removed, there is some massive infection in your abdomen that might require another surgery or that might still lead to complications, you're on an absolute killer dose of both pain meds and antibiotics without which you would probably be dead by tomorrow, your stomach is too afflicted to tolerate any food for the near future and you're too weak to get up for days. Which translates to you: don't hold your breath while waiting to get out of here."

This answer irked him and he found himself frowning at her. He almost wished Valkyrie to be back, at least she was silent. Maybe he was a bit unfair, not exactly knowing if it was really Lizzie's manner of answering that irritated him or if he just did not like what he heard.

"Hey, what's it with you?", Lizzie exclaimed, opting for a lighter tone, since she received no answer. "Normally the soldiers I treat are not that eager to get back to training, with the good care and the female attention they receive here."

The last bit was said with a twinkle, but it was lost on Dick. There was not so much care, but treatment that he had received so far, and he could have done well without the female company. Valkyrie was keen on torturing him, while Lizzie had a habit of making him feel uncomfortable. And now he was stuck here for who knew how long, while the training progressed without him. After all, it was only a matter of months until they were sent into the middle of that hell on the European continent.

"Okay, look", Lizzie relented, now serious and her eyes thoughtful, noticing his sullen mood. "You have to stay for about three weeks, probably longer. Depends on how fast the infection is receding. If everything heals fine, you'll be back to light duty in six weeks at the very soonest and back to regular duty in about three months. If there are complications, it might take up to half a year for your abdomen to be back to normal."

That made Dick swallow hard. At least he understood now why Lizzie had not wanted him to know. Three months until he was back to normal? That was harsh. Who would replace him in Easy company? There was even the danger of reassigning him to another company. And how could he ever catch up on the things he would miss in these three months?

"Thanks for letting me know", he forced himself to reply to Lizzie, feeling numb.

"Yeah, that was a splendid idea, you look much cheerier now", she replied wryly, looking at him through some wayward strands of hair. "Look, it's not like your company will fall apart with you missing for a few weeks. They will be fine without you breathing down their necks and tying their shoelaces for them."

That was definitely the wrong thing to say to him. Dick looked up sharply, staring hard at her. Who was she to make such a comment, in front of him, without knowing anything about Easy company or his everyday struggles with Sobel? Did she even realize that they were training for war? All of this seemed to be more a game to her, boys in summer camp playing cowboys and Indians. Did she know that he would be responsible for people getting killed if he was unobservant or lagged behind in training?

"I don't think it's your place to comment on anything concerning my men or me", Dick told her frostily. For the first time, it was Lizzie's turn to look taken aback, her brown eyes suddenly wide.

"I see", she said in a clipped tone, while stepping away from his bed. "I don't get your problem, but since you don't like what I say or do, I'll see that someone else will take care of you for your stay here. Do me a favor and get well soon, Lieutenant Winters."

With that she turned on her heels and marched off, almost running over a surprised looking Nix that had chosen this moment to visit.

"What is that all about?", Nix asked him, eyebrows arched. But Dick remained silent, suddenly feeling tired and achy with the tension of the last few minutes leaving his body. Why could he not just sleep until the three months were over and he was back to normal?

"Dick, you're breaking a golden rule here", Nix remarked, sitting down on a chair. "Never piss off the nurses. They can make your stay in hospital either heaven or hell. Seems like you took a wrong turn back there."

Dick really liked Nix, but there were times when his friend's presence was more than just a little wearisome. This was one of these moments. Dick suddenly longed to be alone, he needed time to mull over all these things in his head. The message of his long recovery had shocked him and worst of it was, he had only himself to blame for it. If he had listened to Roe's advices, if he had turned back at the beginning of the maneuver, he would probably be out of hospital already and back on regular duty in a week or two. All of this was his very own fault.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?", Nix asked more softly. "You're awake and seem better than yesterday, but you look like someone pissed in your coffee."

Dick sighed.

"Yeah, I'm better", he answered slowly. "Just realized you were right for shouting at me a few days back, this must be the most stupid thing I ever did."

Nix looked taken aback by this self-critical assessment, then smiled a little.

"Oh that, yeah, sorry for the shouting. I hoped you wouldn't remember. It was more worry than anything else, I was slightly overreacting. But yeah, the facts stay the same and I agree with you, not getting help in time must have been the most stupid thing you did in a long while."

Dick looked into Nix's eyes, but saw there no glee. His friend was only offering his support, in his very own way.

"Thanks, Lew", Dick found himself replying wryly, the heavy mood lifting a bit.

"Oh, and I was asked to forward to you all the best wishes from the boys", Nix changed the topic, quirking a smile. "They already miss you and hope for your speedy recovery."

"Just tell me who is replacing me", Dick prompted his friend, being happy about the well-wishes, but already suspecting something else behind it.

"You're really better, at least your head is working fine again", Nix commented dryly. "It's Shames from Dog company. I'm sure I heard Guarnere one evening praying to the Virgin Mary for your quick return."

Dick felt himself wincing sympathetically. Shames had quite the reputation of being a flayer, shouting even the smallest orders and dealing out insults to the men on a regular basis. Poor Easy.

"The thing is", Nix continued, "he gets along just fine with Sobel. The two are really cut out for each other. I'm sure they're exchanging tips for humiliating the boys in the evenings."

"Well, just tell the men my greetings", Dick replied, feeling himself tiring. An annoying throb had started some time ago in his side and was increasingly calling for attention. "And that I'm doing my best to return as quickly as I can."

"I'll tell them", Nix promised, then got up. " Go on, get some rest, you can hardly keep your eyes open."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The evening found Dick subjected to some more torture at the hands of the Valkyrie. Lizzie made good on her promise and did not show up at all. After a few minutes of picking and tearing from the Valkyrie, he found himself begging silently for the gentle hands of Lizzie. Although she had claimed Dick disliked both what she said and did, he realized during the painful administrations that he had liked just fine what she did, it was more what came from her lips that bothered him.

His wish was heard somewhere in the higher spheres, because the first thing Dick saw when opening his eyes the next morning was a displeased looking Lizzie.

"Don't even bother asking why I'm here", she began even before he had fully shaken the sleep from his mind. The morphine left him feeling drowsy all the time. "It's Betty's day off, so I'm stuck again with you."

Dick guessed that Betty was the name of the Valkyrie, so far he had not been that interested to know the name of his torturer. Blinking his eyes at Lizzie, he murmured softly, "Good morning."

"Yeah, good morning", she answered rather curtly, then immediately went down to business. "Any pain? Other discomfort?"

"No, everything fine, I think", Dick answered slowly, still not fully awake.

"Good, then you'll probably agree that it's time to cut down on the pain meds", she stated, not even looking at him, but writing something down on his medical record. "You'll only receive half doses of morphine now with the goal of weaning you from it in two or three days. If you tolerate drinking, we'll be able to switch to oral pain killers. And we'll remove the tubes today."

"Okay", Dick replied, not thinking that his approval was needed, but giving it anyway.

"Open up", she commanded, holding a thermometer in her hand. He complied, the resolute mask of busy professionalism on her face preventing him from even thinking of resisting. She took all his vitals in total silence. Dick felt a tiny twinge of regret, seeing that his comment must have bothered her more than he had thought, but it was soon forgotten when Lizzie disappeared and came back with a basin and a wash cloth, the look on her face speaking of pure determination.

Heat was rising in Dick's cheeks when he became aware of the fact that he was about to be washed. By her, of all possible persons. He was lying there only in that flimsy hospital gown with nothing on underneath, and she was already throwing off the blanket, a hand reaching for the thin fabric covering his body...

"It's fine", he stuttered, frantically keeping the hospital gown in place with both hands, his face probably bright red by now. "I can wash myself."

He was sure he could see the corners of her mouth twitch slightly.

"You can't", she tried to explain, while struggling for a straight face. "You can't even sit up by yourself. And it's not like I haven't seen anything there is to be seen before."

Dick was sure he had never felt more embarrassed in his entire life. Was she doing it on purpose?

"I'm sure I can manage", he replied, clinging to his dignity at the same time as clutching the gown in his fists with all his might. The effort woke a sharp pain in his side, but Dick could not have cared less at this moment, his hurt dignity smarting more than his abdomen.

"Hygiene is important", she pointed out in a voice that made clear that her patience was wearing thin, while trying to pry his hands from the fabric, then suddenly giving up.

"Fine, do whatever you want!", she exclaimed, now definitely more pissed off than amused, throwing the cloth at him and only missing his face by a hair's breadth. "Be difficult and make your stay here as awful as possible. It's your body and your health and your choice how to ruin it!"

Before Dick had the chance to reply, another nurse joined them. She was in her early thirties, with delicate features and reddish blonde hair. Dick had to notice with a certain consternation that she was pregnant, her belly rounding beneath the white coat she wore. This was getting better and better, they even let pregnant women work in the military hospital, which was about the last place to be for an expecting mother.

"What's the matter, Lizzie?", the blond nurse asked, her voice carrying an educated New England dialect. "Why are you throwing things at my patient?"

Lizzie sighed with frustration, then pointed a finger at Dick.

"Because he is insufferable", she exclaimed, looking accusingly at him. "And he is refusing hygienic treatment."

"That's not true", Dick now clipped in, feeling for all the world like a ten year old again, quarreling with the neighbor's girl in front of his mother and swearing he had not pulled her hair. "I said I could wash myself, but she wouldn't let me."

The nurse chuckled lightly, then came closer to the bed, reaching for his medical record.

"I'll let you sort that out among yourselves", she responded lightly, while reading the record. "We should rather see that we can remove that tubes from your abdomen, Lieutenant Winters. Movement will be easier once they are out."

When she began preparing the different instruments and Lizzie started drawing up a syringe, he asked hesitantly, "Shouldn't we wait for the doctor for this?"

The blond just smiled to herself, while Lizzie answered scathingly, "She is the doctor."

"Oh", was the only thing Dick could say, staring a bit faintly at the female doctor.

"I'm sorry, my fault, I didn't introduce myself", she replied, obviously used to the confusion about her profession. "My name is Doctor Coombs. My husband operated you. I'm acquainted with your case, so just try and relax while we get out these tubes."

Dick nodded, not knowing what other option he had. Lizzie injected him with a good portion of morphine, that brought him to the edge of sleep. However, as soon as they started with the removal, every thought of sleep was driven from his mind, the pain excruciating despite the morphine. It felt like someone had dug hooks in his side and then was slowly pulling them out, making him pant with pain. The end of the procedure was a bit hazy, Dick could not really remember if he just fell asleep shortly after they were done or if he fainted somewhere in between.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Lizzie was still frustrated when she went to scrub Winter's blood from her hands. It was strange that she felt this strongly about a man she hardly knew, but the few encounters she had had with him had shown her that he was just a self-righteous, stuck-up bastard. Well, maybe this realization was all the harder because she had first liked him, before he had started getting better.

When Winters had been brought in, she had been intrigued right from the beginning. Lizzie had only been to Aldbourne for something over a month, beforehand receiving her education in a civil hospital in Boston. So far she had only treated privates and once in a while a sergeant, all being brought to the military hospital because of accidents in the trainings or some illnesses. They had all been meek and miserable when brought in, but with some care had soon turned into little devils, all the time trying to sweet talk her into a kiss or even grabbing her ass when she was not looking. It was not such a bother to Lizzie, because she knew exactly what these men would be going through in a few months and if she could somehow make them feel a little better, well, then let them grab her ass. After all, she very well knew when to draw a line and she could be strict, if needed.

But then, Winters had been different. He had been in very bad shape when brought in, and the first worry on her mind had been to keep him alive. But she had been there to observe him after the surgery and she had found herself studying him closely. His face had something very special to itself, handsome and noble. She could remember getting quite protective of him when he had started waking up after surgery, his sleepy sighs somehow moving her heart. She had even told off his friend, the black-haired Casanova, so Winters could get his rest.

In the first night she had stayed close to him, which was why she had noticed his troubles in the first place. His old-fashioned introduction, all gentlemanly, and his desperate flailing for dignity despite his rather dopey state of mind had endeared him to her. Maybe she had even been flirting with him, she was not so sure anymore about her motivations back then in that night. Right now every thought of him disgusted her.

How could she have known that he was in fact such an ass? Shaking her head to herself, scrubbing her fingers with more force than necessary, she did not hear Greta walk up to her.

"Still angry?", the blond doctor asked, leaning against the sink. "What did the poor guy do?"

"He told me in no unclear terms that I'm just a lowly nurse, while he is the one to save the world", Lizzie answered heatedly, looking at Greta. "But it wasn't just what he said, his whole demeanor spelled importance and self-righteousness, while he thinks I'm the little girl playing with puppets. All I've done was trying to lighten the mood, taking his mind off the pain, but he's obviously quite comfortable suffering nobly alone and thinking of new ways to be even more stuck-up."

Greta smiled at her ranting.

"And I first thought you liked him", she broached the subject carefully. "That's at least what you told me."

"Yeah, I liked him when he was half-dead", Lizzie bristled, drying her now clean hands on a towel. "As soon as he was talking more clearly, only bullshit came out of his mouth. Maybe they did something to him while we spent the weekend in London."

Greta chuckled and shook her head, obviously greatly amused.

"Come on, let's smoke a cigarette, then you can cool down", the doctor suggested, pulling her to the door.

"Greta!", Lizzie exclaimed, staring pointedly at her friend's round belly. "You shouldn't smoke, you know."

"You know I won't", the doctor answered, almost petulantly. "But if the wind blows some of the smoke into my direction, I certainly won't refuse breathing."

Now it was Lizzie's turn to laugh, the levity slowly dispersing her anger.

"Okay, let's get you to some passive smoking."

Despite the nasty Autumn weather, the two women stepped out of the hospital, that was more a giant complex of barracks than a real hospital. Lizzie lit herself a cigarette, inhaling the smoke deeply, while Greta looked on longingly.

"It won't take that long until you'll be able to smoke again", Lizzie told her, tongue-in-cheek. "Just three months until you give birth and then another six months of breast-feeding."

Greta stuck her tongue out, then moved a hand to her stomach, probably feeling the movements of her unborn child. Lizzie had never really been able to picture her friend as a mother and when she had been told about it some months ago, it had taken Greta at least half an hour to finally convince her that she really was pregnant, no joke.

"You'll be a good mother", Lizzie said to her, studying her friend intently. That insight came even to Lizzie as a bit of a surprise, after all the nights they had spent together drinking and enjoying themselves in Boston. Although Greta was almost ten years her senior, Lizzie had instantly taken a liking to the doctor when they met at the hospital one and a half years ago. She guessed that Greta had been feeling quite lonely, her male colleges more than a bit intimidated by her competence and her good looks.

"You think so?", Greta asked, suddenly a bit self-consciously. "You know I never planned on having children."

"Well", Lizzie replied wickedly, "then you should have paid better attention to what you were doing with Paul six months ago."

"Watch your tongue, little nurse", Greta ground out good-naturedly. "Or it won't be your red-haired friend in there but me that will put you back in place."

Lizzie smiled at her, then suddenly burst out laughingly, "You should have seen his face when I tried to wash him! I got the impression that no female hands have ever been allowed to touch his most holy realms."

"Come on, cut the guy some slack", Greta replied, opting for a slightly more neutral tone. "Maybe he isn't at his best at the moment, no big surprise after what he's been through in the last few days. Paul told me that Winters has the reputation of being one of the most promising young officers on the base. And he also told me that Winter's men, who brought him in, are fiercely loyal about him. So maybe he isn't all _that_ bad, you know."

"You're supposed to be on my side", Lizzie complained half-heartedly. "Since you're married you're always siding with Paul. And if Winters is the best the US can offer, then maybe we should hand in our surrender to the Germans tomorrow."

"Ouch, that's harsh", Greta replied, wincing, then they slowly went inside again, the steady rain and the wind driving them back into the warmth of the building. "You're still very young, my dear Fräulein Elisabeth, and maybe your sweet little heart has been broken one too many times, but you should take a step towards reconciliation with the male world and stop judging every man that crosses your path as harshly as you do."

"Never", Lizzie promised grinningly, then waved to her friend before going back to work.

-TBC-


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello my dear readers! _

_As usual, a big thank you goes to my amazing reviewers: __**BatOutOfHell-Madness **__(Very glad you like the interaction between Dick and Lizzie, there's much more of that to come in the following chapters!), __**beth-rodrigues.77**__ (Hehe, you'll just have to wait and see how everything turns out with Lizzie, but she'll certainly be around. And I'm so happy you like this story so much!), __**ChocAndSnow19**__ (So glad you liked the comments and the washing scene, that was pure fun for me to write, so even better when it's fun for you to read, too. Yes, Nix will be around a bit more in this chapter and he'll certainly be in the chapters to come. Thanks for that lovely review, loved it! :)), __**FrankieAndHerTroubledTown**__ (Welcome to the story and thanks for the nice review. Very happy here to hear that Lizzie is likable. She's a nurse, all nurses are fierce... :-))) and __**indifferentshell **__(Hey! Hehe, yeah, their little spat might have come as a bit of a surprise, but I just like to make everything a bit more difficult for my characters... :-))) How mean of me! Yeah, Dick the control freak is a bit stressed out, you're absolutely right there. Well, that thing with him maybe losing Easy... No, I won't say anything, you'll just have to wait and see. :-))) Lizzie and him will soon be on much friendlier terms, I promise!;-))._

_Enjoy Chapter five!_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Oh dear, is it really such a bother to wash your feet once in a while?", Lizzie commented with a sigh, wrinkling her nose while carefully rolling back the sock of her newest patient, a young private with a round face and reddish blonde hair, hardly twenty years old.

"Sweetie, if I had known it would be you patching me up, I would have scrubbed them thrice every day", the private answered, wincing and grinning at her at the same time. "And I would have brought chocolate and roses."

"Thanks, but washing them _once_ a day would've been enough for me", she replied, winking at him. The sock came off and she could see that his ankle was badly swollen. "How did this happen? You kicked someone's ass?"

"I wish. My CO's ass, that would've been great", he replied longingly, giving her a quick smile, then looking down at his foot again. "We were playing basketball. In our free-time, mind you."

"Really?", she asked, pausing and staring at him disbelievingly. "Aren't you supposed to train for war and save us all from Hitler's maniacs?"

"Yeah, that too", he answered, shrugging his shoulders while Lizzie very carefully felt his ankle. The swelling was quite bad, but she could move the joint without him howling in pain or jumping out of his skin.

"You're lucky, I don't think it's broken, just badly sprained", she finally declared, starting to wrap up the injured foot tightly. "Stay off of it for the next two weeks, then come back again and we'll see if it has healed alright."

"That's it?", the young private asked, when Lizzie tied off the ends of the bandage and started to get up. "I can go? No morphine? No kiss to make it better?"

She snorted, raising her eyebrows and giving him a long glance.

"Nothing of those, but I have something else for you", she replied, then went to one of the cupboards and came back with crutches. "Here. And I repeat, stay off that foot."

"Crutches?", he asked, looking a bit crestfallen. "Come on, I thought it would be something good."

"That's it, Private Heffron, you're free to go", she said, watching him get up awkwardly.

"Call me Babe", he supplied huskily, leaning towards her on his crutches and trying to look seductive while looking deeply into her eyes.

Lizzie could not help herself, she burst out laughing.

"Maybe after you've done some growing up", she replied, still chuckling. "Until then I want you to stay out of trouble and out of basketball games, Private Heffron."

Feeling that he had tried everything and seeing that he was not succeeding in even getting close to get her to flirt with him, Heffron shrugged his shoulders and slowly hobbled towards the exit. Lizzie looked after him, grin still in place. These boys were really bold, none of them suffering from anything close to a small ego. Just as she was about to clean the examination table that had been used, Heffron suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Oh, I almost forgot", he said, hobbling back to her. "How is Lieutenant Winters? We've hardly heard anything of him in the last few days."

Lizzie could feel her good mood evaporating at even the mentioning of Winters.

"So you're one of his?", she asked back.

"Yeah", he answered, then corrected himself, "well, I'm not in his platoon, but he's still around most of the time. Don't tell anyone I said this, but he's a really good man and a good officer."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone", she reassured him, pursing her mouth. What was it about Winters that had everyone fawning over him? Were they all blinded by all this holier-than-thou nonsense he pulled off?

"So, he's going to be fine, right?", Heffron asked again.

"Yes, he's better already and he'll recover", she answered rather curtly.

"You wouldn't know anything about when he's going to be back?", he asked hesitantly and suddenly even a bit self-consciously.

Lizzie sighed inwardly. They were a real match, Winters and his men. He could hardly wait to get out of hospital and his men in turn impatiently counted the minutes until he was back.

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you", she answered him finally. It was true, she was not supposed to hand out any patient information. "But it'll be a while."

"Okay, thanks anyway", Heffron answered, giving her a last smile, then hobbling out out the hospital.

Lizzie watched him leave, then went back to work. There was not all that much to do at the moment, the whole ward presently containing only two more patients beside Winters, a dislocated shoulder that would be released tomorrow, and an early but quite severe case of flu. So she decided to put away the boxes with bandages and meds that had arrived this morning and stood in the entrance area since then.

When she walked through the patient's ward, she found her gaze inadvertently roaming to Winter's bed. The curtain was open, because he had been a bit on the bumpy side of recovery since they had removed the tubes yesterday. Lizzie had refused to go near him again and it had been young Jean, who had taken over watching him, for Betty would only return tomorrow and the remaining nurses were presently occupied in other wards or attending medical classes. Nevertheless, Lizzie had heard Jean talking about him not sleeping all that well since they had cut back on the morphine. And he slowly started to look it, Lizzie thought, when she glanced at him. His eyes were closed, but his pale and drawn face was far from relaxed, which made clear that he was not sleeping. Forcing herself to avert her eyes, Lizzie told herself that he was not her problem anymore. And if he really needed something, he could call out to her, she would never refuse treating a patient if it was needed.

She carried the first of three boxes from the entrance to the storage room and started to place in the bandages, neatly stacking them in a cupboard. Being done with that, she went back down to get the second box, again having to pass Winters on the way. He was still lying there exactly the way like before with the only exception that she could now make out a faint sheen of sweat on his face. He was in pain, that was obvious and if he were one of her altogether normal patients, she would go to him and try to help. But she was sure it would be in vain with him, he would anyway refuse any help she could give.

Still, when Lizzie went to fetch the last box, she could not hold herself back any longer, her professional aversion to suffering dictating her next move. Approaching his bed, she saw that Winters had by now pressed a hand to his face, his breathing more than just a little strained.

"Hey", she said softly, watching his bloodshot eyes crack open, "you need something?"

With all her willpower, Lizzie had managed to get it out totally neutrally. Ha, and Greta sometimes thought her too unforgiving!

"No", he answered slowly, reacting exactly in the stubborn and stuck-up way she had suspected. Jeez, one could think it would turn him into dust to admit that he felt any discomfort. "But thanks", he at least added, closing his eyes and trying to breathe more deeply, wincing to himself.

Lizzie was slowly starting to get annoyed again. What was it with this guy who somehow found all her hidden buttons and pushed them relentlessly? She knew she should probably just leave him alone, but she decided to make one last effort.

"Look", she said intently, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice, "you're not fine and I don't see who you want to impress with your heroic suffering, but it sure isn't me. You need more pain killers? Something to sleep? Just say the word and don't suffer all nobly by yourself, you'll have lots of chances to do exactly that when you actually go to war."

That came out a bit harsher than she had intended, her irritation shining through. First it seemed like he would just ignore her, then he slowly opened his eyes again.

"You said that it's time to reduce the doses of morphine", he stated reluctantly, frowning at her.

Now that surprised her a bit. Did he think that she had ordered him to be in pain?

"Yeah, I said that", she answered, now feeling a good portion of exasperation on top of her irritation. "But I didn't mean for you to just put up with the pain and stop sleeping because of it. If it doesn't work, then we'll postpone cutting back on the morphine for a few days, okay? So, you _are_ in pain?"

He looked at her, pursing his lips, then finally admitted, "Yeah."

Alright, that was a start. He looked like the admission had cost the soul of his grandmother, but at least he had admitted it.

"You want something for it?", she asked again, this time more gently.

"No", he answered, making Lizzie want to scream in frustration, but then surprised her by adding, "But maybe you could help me sit up a bit. I think that would do some good." As an afterthought he then confessed rather self-consciously, "I couldn't do it by myself."

"Yeah, of course", she answered, releasing the pent up breath of frustration slowly. Maybe they could come up with some sort of truce, after all.

She very carefully supported his shoulders, feeling his warm and firm muscles beneath the thin hospital gown, and with his help slowly maneuvered him in a more sitting position. Her hands lingered a moment longer than necessary on his body, but he felt unexpectedly good to her touch and she was almost reluctant to let go of him.

"Better?", she asked him, maybe a tiny bit breathlessly, tearing her thoughts and hands away from his body.

He nodded, face still pinched with pain from the movement, but starting to relax in this position that seemed much more comfortable to him than lying flat on his back.

"I treated one of your men today", she found herself saying, before she even realized that she was making conversation with him, out of free will. "Private Heffron."

"Yeah?", he asked, his lips giving an almost imperceptible twitch. "He behaved, I hope?"

Lizzie could not help feeling taken aback. Was that a trace of humor or was he just displaying the attentive officer? The answer on the tip of her tongue, however, was that Heffron had behaved much better than Winters had, but that would drive him back on the barricades he had left only moments ago.

"Yes, he behaved alright", she decided to answer neutrally. "He twisted his ankle in a basketball game, but it's not too bad. He'll be back on his feet in no time at all."

"Thanks for telling me", he replied, giving her a nod.

Since he obviously made an effort to get along with her, she decided to give him some more details.

"He asked about you", she told him. "Seemed quite anxious about you staying on medical leave for a while."

He just nodded at this, his face suddenly impassive and not giving away if that meant anything to him. Lizzie then decided it was time to leave him alone. There was only so much progress they could make in one day.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"The peritoneum was already badly inflamed when we split open your internal oblique muscle, the appendix vermiformis apparently having oozed pus for hours", Paul commented monotonously, taking a deep drag from his cigarette while keeping Winters upright and walking with his other arm. Lizzie was supporting Winters on his other side, an arm snug firmly around his hip. Paul had this morning decided that Winters needed to be up and moving to reduce the risk of him developing pneumonia or other conditions connected to being bed-ridden for a longer time.

"But there wasn't all that much left of your appendix that we could remove. Instead, bits and pieces were spread all over your peritoneum. It was quite a mess", Paul went on, very much matter-of-factly. Lizzie could see Winters struggling to keep the disgust from his face and at the same time strained to put one foot in front of the other. There was no doubt, Paul was one of the best surgeons she knew, but he had always seemed more interested in muscles and organs than in the patients as human beings. First, she had wondered what Greta saw in him, with his glasses and his thinning hair, but now that she knew him better, she came to value his friendship. There was no one else she could discuss her newest sci-fi novel with and he was quite the connoisseur when it came to classical music.

Just as Paul wanted to let Winters in on some more gory details of what he had found a week ago in his abdomen, Jean called from the emergency ward for him.

"Oh, I got to go", he remarked, disentangling himself from Winters. "Lizzie, can you bring him back to bed?"

He did not even wait for her answer, but rushed off and Lizzie was suddenly supporting a tiring Winters all by herself.

"Uff", she groaned a bit under the weight and led him a few paces forward to lean against the wall, then muttered to herself, "Yeah Paul, no problem, I take care of it."

"Sorry", Winters murmured to her, letting himself slouch against the wall. Lizzie watched him sigh softly and drag a hand across his damp brow, looking frustrated with himself. First, he had been in quite a good mood, displaying happiness at the prospect of exchanging the skimpy hospital gown for a set of long-sleeved and loose-fitting PT gear and finally being able to get up. However, his elation had slowly evaporated with the struggle of dragging his uncooperative feet forward, a pronounced limp accompanying his unsteady steps.

"You're doing fine", she tried to encourage him, although a bit hesitantly. Their truce still held, but it was a fledgling thing. She just could not figure him out and that made any approach to him difficult. At least she had given up her open refusal to treat him and as long as she stayed purely professional, they got along.

"I'm up for five minutes and my bed is not even fifty feet away, but it feels like I've run a marathon. That's not fine", he stated frowningly.

"What did you expect?", she asked, looking for a place to let him rest until he either found the strength to walk back with her support or someone came along to help her. "You were bedridden for a week and your body is only slowly overcoming the infection. It's a miracle you're already up and about, considering the shape you were in."

His blue eyes were narrowing when he looked down at her. Lizzie had been a bit surprised to see how tall he was when standing upright, she only reached up to his shoulders, which did not make her supporting of him any easier. The stormy look on his face told her enough about his mood, but he suppressed any comment that might have been on his tongue. Seemed like he valued their truce as much as Lizzie did.

When she tore her gaze away from him, she saw Winter's dark haired friend enter the patient's ward, probably coming for a visit.

"Lieutenant Nixon!", she called out, feeling Winters slipping slowly from her grasp and steadying him with her other hand as well. "Could you quickly lend me a hand, please?"

Nixon strolled over, not at all alarmed that his friend was in danger of making rather graceless contact with the hospital floor. Lizzie could even make out a lazy smile on his face, when he came closer. Just when she was sure her strength would give out, Nixon appeared on Winter's other side, relieving her of most of the weight.

"Thanks", she said rather breathlessly, slowly guiding Winters back towards his bed. "Glad you didn't decide to take a coffee break in the middle."

"Charming as always", Nixon replied, flashing her a smile. "A wonder you don't need a gun license for that sharp tongue of yours."

"A wonder _you_ don't need a chain to keep your tongue from wagging constantly, Lieutenant Casanova", she retorted pointedly.

"Ah, you didn't forget that first day", Nixon replied, trying to look rueful, but failing miserably. "Now you probably won't ever believe what a great guy I am."

This was said with a big, lazy grin and such a conviction, that Lizzie almost could not believe his arrogance.

"Lew, leave it", Winters ground out breathlessly from in between them.

"Hey Dick", Nixon now turned his head to his friend. "I hope she isn't too tough on you." Then he added in a mock-conspirative voice to Lizzie, "You should be easy on him, female company tends to make him feel a bit uncomfortable."

Winters of course had heard him very well, his cheeks reddening slightly. It was quite endearing, when Lizzie thought of it. He was a grown man and he certainly did not lack self confidence, but his old-fashioned sense of what was proper and what not was rather endearing. When she thought on it, maybe quite a bit of their initial strife had been born from a misunderstanding. What she had first thought to be him behaving like an uptight jerk might have actually been his way of dealing with situations that had made him feel uncomfortable. And yes, she had certainly made him feel uncomfortable more than once, which must have felt for him like she was tab-dancing on his dignity.

"Nix, please, just shut up", Winters replied, giving his friend an exasperated look. Lizzie suddenly had to bite on her lips to keep herself from smiling. Old married couple came to her head when she glanced at them. It reminded her of a few days back, when she had seen Nixon keeping watch at Winters' bed. He had not been the arrogant playboy he liked so much to display in front of her. He had been worried and upset, staying at his friend's side as often as he was able to. They were close, she could see that, and it seemed to be a special friendship, considering their obvious disparity of character. There was one similarity, however, they both seemed to possess more layers than she had first thought them to have.

"Alright, here we are again", she commented as they arrived back at his bed. Winters looked more than ready to collapse onto the mattress. With Nixon's help she carefully lowered him down onto the bed. The short walk had taxed his strength already and she could see that moving around was painful for him, but she had not lied when she had said that he was greatly improved. He was recovering quickly, although he had made it clear that it was still much too slow for him.

"Would you like some water?", she asked him when he was settled in.

"Yes, please", he answered exhaustedly, a hand pressed to his right side.

"And some painkillers?", she tried carefully. They had weaned him from morphine this morning, his stomach finally tolerating water and meds again. They might even try eating by tomorrow.

"No, just water", he answered, not at all to her surprise.

She went to fetch a glass of water and when she came back, Winters and Nixon were already deep in discussion.

"... Sobel was of course pissed off, but Sink just ignored him. Jeez, Sobel really hates you, Dick", Nixon was just saying when she returned, then looked up to her from where he was sitting beside Winter's bed and remained silent.

"Go on, just pretend I don't exist", she prompted them, the revelation of someone hating Winters peaking her interest. And here she thought everyone regarded him as poster boy for everything concerning military business.

"I'm sorry, but it's better this information stays among Lieutenant Nixon and me", Winters decided, looking at her a bit apologetically. The fortress Winters was closed again.

"Lizzie!", Paul called from the emergency ward. "Could you come? I need your help."

She set down the glass of water on Winter's night-stand and went over to the emergency ward.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Hey, I have good news for you", Nix said as soon as Lizzie was out of earshot to fetch a glass of water. Dick was still breathless from the walking, and the sharp throbbing in his side had yet to abate. "They were discussing the outcome of your maneuver today, Sink, Horton and Sobel. They were quite impressed with your excellent results... well, not Sobel, but Sink and Horton. And here it comes: they will accredit the exercise as a success, you won't have to repeat it. They argued that it was nowhere stated clearly that the utilization of motor vehicles in the course of the maneuver is forbidden, and they felt that despite you returning early, you deserve the accreditation, with all the effort you put into it to see it through successfully. Sobel was of course pissed off, but Sink just ignored him. Jeez, Sobel really hates you, Dick."

Lizzie came back and Nix stopped talking for which Dick was grateful. They were discussing internal matters that were not meant to be overheard by anyone else. Dick noticed the curious look she gave him.

"Go on, just pretend I don't exist", she said, looking eager to hear more about it.

"I'm sorry, but it's better this information stays among Nixon and me", Dick replied, trying to make it sound neither as a reprimand, nor as a vote of distrust. However, he did not miss the look of something akin to... disappointment?... on her face. Before he had a chance to say anything else, she was called away by the doctor.

Nix glanced after her, then to Dick, but stayed silent, shrugging his shoulders to himself.

"Lew?", Dick asked after a short silence. "Do you think you could smuggle in some paperwork for me? There's still the report I have to write for the maneuver and maybe I can get a head start on the theory classes."

"You sure you're up to that?", Nix inquired doubtfully. "I don't think you're supposed to do any work just yet. You should focus on resting and getting better."

"I _am_ resting, I haven't done anything else for the past seven days", Dick answered impatiently. Who would have thought that his friend was actually a mother hen, somewhere deep down? "And I _am_ getting better. But there is just nothing to do around here."

"That's the whole point of resting", Nix put in sarcastically, lighting himself a cigarette. "If you're getting bored, I could smuggle in a less strenuous lecture, maybe some... magazines, you know."

The gleam in his friend's eyes told Dick exactly what kind of magazines Nix was thinking of.

"No, Nix", he answered long-sufferingly. "Keep the magazines to yourself, all I'm asking of you is to bring me some paperwork. It'll be enough when I can look at it for an hour or two a day, I won't overdo it. I don't want to lag behind more than I absolutely have to."

"I'll see what I can do", Nix finally promised, then added with a wink, "At least assuming I'm brave enough to defy that barb-tongued nurse of yours. She is quite protective of you."

"Lizzie?", Dick asked disbelievingly. "Oh no, you're wrong there, she can't stand me. But it's not her fault, I think I was a bit too harsh on her."

"Well, let's just say that she was always swarming around you in the first 24 hours of your stay", Nix told him, giving Dick a meaningful look.

"Yeah, that's probably because she is a nurse and I was quite sick", Dick supplied ironically.

"No, it's more than that", Nix replied, not letting himself be dissuaded from his point of view.

"Look", Dick tried to explain, "whatever kind-hearted feelings there _might have been_ – and I don't say there have ever been any in the first place – they aren't there anymore. I was unfair and irritated, and she was maybe a bit too openmouthed. We settled it in a nonaggression pact, but that's as far as it goes."

"We'll see", Nix just commented, prompting Dick to shake his head in exasperation. He really regretted the bad turn his relationship with Lizzie had taken, most of all seeing that she had been hurt by his comment. Her tongue was sharp, without a doubt, but he had to confess that he had been wrong when thinking her uncaring. In the last few days she had made an effort to be kind to him and he felt bad about chastising her, she was not one of his soldiers after all. He could not even pinpoint what exactly had set off his reprimand, probably just the frustrating situation he had found himself in. However, she seemed to be a good nurse, very dedicated to what she was doing, and he highly respected the effort she put into her work. It was her hands, really, they were so devoted to relieve pain and give comfort. It was a bit strange, Dick had never given so much thought about something like hands before.

"Hey, are you still there?", Nix asked, waving a hand in front of his eyes.

"Yeah, where else should I be?", Dick replied quickly, forcefully tearing his thoughts back to the present.

"You looked a bit zoned out", his friend remarked. "Hey, would you feel comfortable with Lipton, Roe and Guarnere visiting you? They asked me this morning about it."

"Guarnere wants to visit me?", Dick asked disbelievingly. "Shames must be really hard on them."

"You have no idea", Nix replied, smiling wryly. "All I hear from the boys is how good the times were when you were with them. You get the impression that it has been years ago, not just a week. Wait another week and your memory will have become legend."

Although this was said jokingly, Dick could not help the twinge of concern he suddenly felt. He needed to be back with his men, his long leave was doing them no good at all. Hopefully Shames would not bring down all his work with the men, ruining their trust in their superiors and damaging the team spirit that defined Easy Company. All of a sudden he realized that it was vital that he upheld his ties with the Easy men during his recovery, he must not risk their connection breaking off.

"Tell them it's absolutely fine if they want to come for a visit", Dick replied emphatically. "I'm looking forward to it. And tell them that I'll be back as soon as I can."

"You had me tell them that already, remember?", Nix remarked, looking at him thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I know, but tell them again", Dick insisted.

"Okay, I will", his friend promised and got up. "And I'll bring you some of your much loved paperwork tomorrow."

"Thanks, Lew", Dick replied and watched Nix wave a hand, then leave the ward.

All of the afternoon, Dick mulled over in his head his situation with Easy Company. He tried to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes he saw Shames bellowing at his men, the picture making him toss restlessly in bed. Sighing, he gave up, staring at the ceiling. Why had he not listened to Roe? This was all his fault, there was no one else to blame. If only there was a possibility to change the past, he would be back with his men already, instead of lounging around worthlessly.

If only he could do something, staying still for so long made him more than just slightly restless. There was nothing to read anywhere in reach, he would have been desperate enough to devour a telephone book, if only it would have helped him keep his mind from circling about the same bleak thoughts endlessly. A kingdom for that paperwork Nix had promised him! This would also have had the nice side effect of making him feel slightly less useless.

In the evening it was Jean who took care of him and settled him in for the night. She was a very young girl, maybe eighteen or nineteen years old, and so small that Dick was always remembered of a child when he saw her. Her demeanor and appearance had something mousy to itself, she seemed hesitant about everything she did, hardly speaking a word more than necessary. Dick suspected that she was very new to the medical profession and he frankly could not picture her in the chaos that would be this ward in a few months. But there was no doubt that she was kind-hearted and after she had changed his bandage, he could not even bring himself to refuse the painkillers, because he was a bit worried about her breaking into tears if he did.

At least the painkillers helped him sleep for two or three hours, but when he woke up again, it was not even midnight. With some awkward twisting and stemming of his arms he managed to sit up a bit in bed, although his abdomen was complaining heavily against it. He would have never guessed until now that almost all movements of his body required at least some participation of his stomach muscles and that it was really hard to sit up without using them.

It was all dark in the ward, so he decided to switch on the light on his night-stand. He was not in the mood for staring into the dark for hours at an end, if he could not sleep, then he at least wanted some light. For a moment he played with the thought of getting up, because he was sure some walking would help to quiet down his mind, but then decided against it. This day had shown him in what bad physical shape he still was and he was not at all sure he would be fit enough to heave himself on his feet, let alone move around on his own. And the prospect of Lizzie having to pick him up from the floor, if he did not make it back, was less than thrilling.

The thought of her somehow seemed to draw her near, because the curtain was opened and a bleary-eyed Lizzie stepped up to his bed.

"Hey", she said, suppressing a yawn, "you can't sleep?"

She looked like she had just woken up. Her appearance, dark hair sticking in every direction and lids drooping, all of a sudden brought a smile onto Dick's face. She looked downright adorable, all that was missing was a teddy bear in one hand and a blanket in the other. He felt his mood immediately lifting at the sight, his worries pushed to the back of his mind.

"Yeah", he answered lightly, struggling for a straight face. "You on the other hand seem quite ready to sleep where you stand."

She rubbed her eyes, then suddenly took a double look at him, eyeing him suspiciously.

"You're quite cheery for an insomniac with a fresh eight-inch-scar on his belly", she remarked cautiously, a faint smile breaking through. "To explain myself, I have a 12-hour-shift behind me and am now required to do the nightshift as well. Not everyone of us can lounge around all day in bed."

Dick deemed it safe enough to return her smile. He had not seen that smile on her face since the night of his first stay. Had she not been his guardian angel then? He vaguely remembered feeling so glad to see her, she had helped him so much that night, her smile promising that everything was going to be fine. And it was a beautiful smile, brightening her whole face and making her eyes dance merrily.

"Hey", she exclaimed, raising her eyebrows in mock-surprise, "who would have guessed that? You can actually smile!"

Her tone of teasing was gentle and Dick suddenly was not so sure anymore why he had reacted in such a touchy manner to her banter beforehand. She obviously meant no harm.

"I deserved that, huh?", he replied somewhere between rueful and wry. "I know I've been harsh on you and I apologize for it. Your work is very much appreciated, by everyone, and I never wanted to question that."

The look of bafflement on her face made him smile again.

"Well... I accept your apology, of course, but I don't think it was needed", she slowly replied, still eyeing him closely. "You know, I realize we somehow got off on the wrong foot. And I'm also sorry for... I don't know... being obnoxious, I guess."

"No offence taken", he replied immediately, then stretched out a hand. "Let's just start this anew. I'm Dick."

"Well, I'm still Lizzie", she answered grinningly, but shook his hand all the same. "Pleasure to meet you, First Lieutenant Dick."

He groaned at that, but her peal of laughter made his heart beat slightly faster.

"You won't let me live this down, will you?", he asked her, rolling his eyes, but all the while smiling. "Let's just say as a condition of our fresh start, you won't mention it again."

She made a show of scratching her chin in thought, then finally nodded.

"Alright, I'll do my best to forget", Lizzie promised, eyes twinkling.

The short silence that followed was more relaxed than ever before. Dick saw that she had dimples when she gave him another smile, he had never noticed that until now. She tried to pat down her hair into something at least closely resembling a hairstyle, then with a sigh dropped into the visitor's chair, propping her feet up on his bed.

"So", she said slowly, "what are we going to do with you if you can't sleep? I have this hunch that you won't accept any meds that would help with it."

"Yeah, I don't like them", he explained, feeling slightly self-conscious when he admitted, "They make me feel all woozy, for hours on an end. And they burn in my stomach."

"Oh", she answered, demeanor turning more serious. "I didn't know that. But yes, that's to be expected, your stomach is still getting used to functioning again. It'll be better soon."

"It's no problem", Dick quickly reassured her, not intending to worry her or make the slight discomfort more important than it was. "I just like to do without them, whenever possible. Makes me feel more like myself again."

Lizzie just nodded, resting her head on the back of the chair and staring tiredly into space.

"You don't have to stay up with me, I'm fine", he told her, feeling bad he kept her awake and at his side, since she seemed too dutiful to just leave him alone to find his own rest. "You seem to have a stressful day behind you and as you pointed out, you won't be the one lounging in bed tomorrow."

"I don't mind staying up with you for a little while", she replied, then hid a yawn. "But you're right, it was a stressful day. Some idiots from a ranger battalion crashed their car. Drove into a ditch, don't ask me how they did that. All four of them are injured, a sergeant and three privates. It's not that bad, just a few broken bones and some bruises, but judging from their moaning, you could get the impression they were about to die. I was hurrying back and forth between them all day."

"Yes, I know, whiny soldiers can get on your nerves quite fast", he replied sympathetically, thinking back to all the complaints he had heard from his men when they had to get up early. Thinking of Easy brought a fond smile to his face.

"Although the stoic kind can give you a hard time, too", she said meaningfully, sobering him up instantly. Of course, he should have seen that one coming.

"Look, I already apologized", he answered, giving her a long look.

"I know. I should stop teasing you", Lizzie said, suddenly opting for an earnest tone and shrugging her shoulders. "It's a habit of mine, the teasing. I found that this works best for my patients, they don't want to talk all day about the shitty condition they're in. But then, it doesn't work with you. You're an exception, you know."

Dick found himself looking at her intently. Now that she was serious, for once neither teasing nor holding a grudge, she looked quite small and vulnerable. And somehow very young and delicate. He noticed the shadows under her eyes and the long worry lines on her forehead. She had seemed so lively and cheerful at first sight, as if there was not one worry in her life, but Dick guessed that it was more a rehearsed role she played for her patients than her actual persona. Her job was a very tough one, and he had been wrong when he had thought her naive about them going to war and what it meant for all of them. She knew it only too well and she had already started raising her shields to not let just anything come close to her. Good, that was probably the only way to get through this madness of pain and blood mentally sane.

"It's fine", he found himself replying and really meant it. "You don't have to be different around me."

She gave him an odd look under her thick lashes, then one of her white hands started playing with a dark strand of hair that always fell back in her face. She remained silent, seemingly absorbed by her hair, and if Dick had not known better, he would have said that she looked all of a sudden uneasy. Then she seemed to realize that the silence had stretched slightly too long and cleared her throat, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Well", she said, mask and smile firmly back in place. "What are we going to do? Shall I read a bedtime story to you?"

"A bedtime story?", he asked skeptically, but feeling the tug of a smile on his lips again. "Don't you think I'm too old for that?"

"No, you're never too old for a good bedtime story", she replied cheerily, then got up from her chair. "I'll be right back. Don't go away."

"As if I could", he answered quietly, shaking his head to himself, but she probably had not heard him. She was only gone for a minute or two, then came back with a magazine in her hand.

"Do you like horror and science fiction?", Lizzie asked, a big grin on her face, while showing him the cover of the magazine. There was some half-naked caveman on it, riding on an elephant while shooting at a saber-toothed tiger. 'Weird Tales' was written in big letters and the magazine looked old and very well-thumbed.

"I'm not sure that's really to my taste", he answered slowly, watching her for a reaction, still hoping she was only joking. "And how will hearing a horror story contribute to me sleeping more soundly?"

"Come on, give it a chance, the tales are fun. And if you have nightmares, blame it on me", she said cheerily, sitting down on the chair again and looking much more awake than some minutes ago. "I'll read something to you from H. P. Lovecraft."

"Okay", he relented slowly, obviously not having any choice. At least the view of Lizzie excited like a little girl on her birthday party made up for whatever nonsense she was going to read to him. And it would take off his mind of his more worrying thoughts. Everything was better than going back to brooding.

"It's called 'The Whisperer in Darkness'", she announced dramatically, her sparkling eyes wide open. Her big, dimpled smile was so infectious that Dick just had to smile along with her. She cleared her throat loudly, just for effect, then started reading.

"_Bear in mind closely that I did not see any actual visual horror at the end. To say that a mental shock was the cause of what I inferred—that last straw which sent me racing out of the lonely Akeley farmhouse and through the wild domed hills of Vermont in a commandeered motor at night—is to ignore the plainest facts of my final experience. Notwithstanding the deep..._"

While she read the story out loud to him, Dick found himself more interested in watching her than actually following the plot. It was something about aliens, looking like giant lobsters and dogs getting killed in the middle of the night, he really did not listen all that closely. Her hands were intriguing, how they held the magazine, and he also found himself liking to hear her talking. She modulated her voice dramatically with the story, and the way her face scrunched up when things got tense told him enough about her fascination with these stories. Every once in a while she lifted her brown eyes to meet his, maybe only checking if he was still listening. But as the story progressed and became more suspenseful, she fully dove into the tale, probably not even realizing he was there anymore. Her voice had a mesmerizing quality to itself, being rather deep for a woman's voice and slightly husky, and he found himself closing his eyes to listen to it more intently. She recounted something about brains going to space and other strange things...

Something nudging his leg made him snap up his head. He opened his eyes and was met with a frowning Lizzie, the magazine closed on her lap.

"You fell asleep", she stated accusingly.

"Wasn't that the whole point of it?", he asked with a yawn, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah... well... yeah", she reluctantly acknowledged. "But it's a horror story! You can't just sleep through a horror story. And you missed the ending."

"It was something about brains flying into space", he told her, giving her a wry smile that she tentatively returned.

"Alright, I give up", she finally declared, throwing up her hands and getting up. "Great, now _I_'m all riled up and probably won't be able to sleep for hours."

Dick only chuckled at her antics, then slowly maneuvered himself back down to lie on his back. At least he was sure he could sleep now, stifling another yawn.

"Good night, Lizzie", he softly called out to her.

"Good night, Dick", she replied, giving him a last smile before closing the curtain.

-tbc-


	6. Chapter 6

_A big thanks goes as always to my wonderful and steadfast reviewers, who really help me update regularly. I'm so happy you like the story so far... warm and fuzzy feeling! :-)))_

_**BatOutOfHell-Madness **__(Glad you like Lizzie and Dick, it's fun to write the parts with both of them. Very happy you think Dick's character is plausible, I don't want him too far away from how he's depicted in the series), __**beth-rodrigues.77**__ (Very glad to hear you like Lizzie's strong character! I think she can be a challenge to Dick, that's also why he's drawn to her. Yeah, their finally friendly to each other. For now... :-))),__**ScarlettLeon**__ (Hello there and welcome to the story. I'm very happy you're into this fic and like it so far! And yeah, Heffron, he's just sweet. There's more of the other guys in this chapter, hope you enjoy!) and __**ChocAndSnow19**__ (Yeah, it's a bit of a relief to see the both of them on more friendly terms. Very glad you liked the character descriptions, that's really the hardest part of it all, trying to figure out what they would do and feel, without writing them away from either their origins or what is plausible. And yeah, you're right, they're both complex characters, with issues and fears like every human being. I'm very fascinated with this pre-war atmosphere in England, none of them has yet seen combat, but they all know it's just a matter of time. I really like to write the characters against this tense background)._

_Yay, and here we already arrive at chapter 6! Finally seeing a positive thing in not being a native English speaker, since I can put my mother tongue to good use... ;-)_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"It's not all that much left, so finish up", the Valkyrie (or Betty, as he now knew) said to Dick sternly, shoving the small bowl of chicken soup back into his hands that he had just deposited on the nightstand.

"I told you already, I'm full, I can't eat anymore", Dick tried to explain, his patience wearing thin. He was sure that if he forced one more spoonful down his throat, it would come right back up again. His stomach was tied in uncomfortable knots, not all that happy to be fed again after staying empty for so long.

"This small bowl was only half-full from the beginning, so you should be able to manage it", she reproached him as if he were a child, stemming her hands into her rather large hips.

Dick found himself glaring at her. What was it with him and the nurses here? He could lead a platoon alright and there was not one man in Easy Company that dared to oppose him, but in here no one seemed to even put an effort in treating him with respect.

"That's enough, I'm done", he repeated more forcefully, shoving the bowl back on his nightstand and crossing his arms.

"You're done when this is empty", she insisted in a shrill voice, her tiny pale blue eyes almost disappearing in slits and her cheeks turning pink. She grabbed the bowl and tried to shove it back at him, but his hands caught the bowl before it was in his lap and pushed it from him. Maybe his movements were a bit too spirited, because the bowl dropped from both their hands, shattering on the ground and spilling the soup halfway across the room. Silence followed the crash of breaking porcelain.

"This is all your fault!", the Valkyrie screeched, face bright red.

"I didn't mean to break it", Dick tried to explain uneasily, already starting to feel guilty for the mess on the ground.

At that moment, the pregnant doctor, Dr. Coombs, decided to check up on them.

"Everything alright?", she asked, looking curiously at the spilled soup on the ground and then at a huffing Betty.

"I'm done here, Dr. Coombs!", the Valkyrie stated in a high-pitched voice. "I won't treat this man anymore, someone else can do it!"

Then she stomped out of the ward, leaving a consternated Dick and the doctor looking after her.

"Lieutenant Winters", the doctor said with a sigh, "are you trying to set a new record? This is the second nurse of my ward that storms off in a frenzy after treating you."

"I'm truly sorry, doctor", Dick answered uncomfortably, but at the same time feeling that all of this was not his fault. "I just tried to make her understand that I couldn't eat anymore."

"Yes, Betty can sometimes be a bit stubborn", Dr. Coombs supplied with a faint smile. "Don't worry about it, lieutenant. You're not looking like the usual troublemaker, so I guess that you were just the first one daring to defy her. She'll be fine."

"I really don't try to make this more difficult on purpose", Dick answered, just for good measure, in his own defense.

"I know that, lieutenant", she replied understandingly. "The girls are yet learning their ways around here, they're still in training, just like your soldiers. All of them voluntarily signed up for the military hospital to be able to help and to carry their own shares in this war. Many of them actually come from other professions, leaving their jobs to contribute to this bigger purpose. Lizzie, for example, used to be a teacher, she only signed up as a nurse after the war had broken out."

This was news to Dick. He had never given a thought so far to the motivation of the medical personnel to work on the base, he had always assumed that they were just regular nurses and doctors. Maybe the reasons for him joining the army and for the women to work in the military hospital were not all that different. They also had to leave their country, their well-known surroundings and their families to help in whatever way was most needed. And he certainly could not have guessed that Lizzie had worked as a teacher, although he thought it quite fitting. There was no doubt she was able to hold her own in a class of cheeky ten-year-olds, the thought of her telling off some boys for a prank amusing him.

"I didn't know that", he admitted, also seeing the doctor with new eyes. It was surely her high level of commitment that had brought her to the military hospital, despite her pregnancy and work being much easier at a regular hospital.

"Yes, that doesn't surprise me", Dr. Coombs replied smilingly but without even a trace of reproach. "Your work is obvious for anyone to see and it's what everyone talks about, from the newspapers to the politicians. Our work is much more in the background, which isn't all that bad, to be honest. You're certainly under much more pressure from the public than we are."

Dick nodded at that, deciding for himself to make a bigger effort to be patient with the medical personnel in the future.

"Well, let's leave the talking and get to your abdomen. And have this mess cleaned up", the doctor stated, turning around to another young nurse coming into the ward. "Tessa, would you mind cleaning up here a bit, please?"

"Right away, Dr. Coombs" the girl answered. "I'll just change Private Weller's bandage, I'll be right with you."

The doctor nodded at that, then maneuvered herself into the chair beside Dick's bed, her already quite big belly hindering her and making her sigh softly. .

"This is getting more tedious from day to day", she explained, rubbing her back.

"I hope this isn't too stressful for you and your child, with all the hard work you're doing, doctor", Dick said rather self-consciously, feeling uncomfortable talking about her pregnancy but somehow needing to express his appreciation for her effort despite her condition.

"It's fine, thank you for your concern", she replied, her delicate features lighting up. "Why, I can't see why the girls don't like you, there's certainly no lack of manners on your part. I would be fawning all over you, if I weren't already married to the best guy on earth and expecting his child."

Dick felt his cheeks getting warm at that. He could not help himself and he hated it, but he did not know how to prevent himself from blushing at such a compliment. Especially uttered by a woman, and an attractive woman at that.

"Alright, let's not boost your ego too much", she said, still smiling warmly at him. "It's your abdomen that has my interest, not your manners. So please let me see that noncompliant side of yours."

He did as she asked and rolled up the sweater he wore to reveal the white bandages beneath. She started to undo them, while the nurse, Tessa, came back to clean the ground from the shards and the remains of the chicken soup. For a short moment, Dick wondered if he should ask the doctor where Lizzie was, but then decided against it. No need for tongues to start wagging. However, he had found himself waiting for her the whole morning, looking up every time a nurse entered the ward, but just seeing two new nurses and the Valkyrie today. That probably meant that Lizzie had finally received some time off, after her 24-hours-shift, which would certainly do her some good.

"This doesn't look all too bad", Dr. Coombs commented, when the neat row of stitches on his abdomen was finally revealed. The long surgery wound still looked raw to Dick, the swollen skin around the suture showing all possible colors of bruising. "Do you see the fine stitches? That's so clearly Paul's hand. This will leave a very tidy scar."

"I can see it", Dick replied a bit faintly. Maybe he would have been able to appreciate the doctor's handiwork better, if it had not been his own belly that had been cut open and then stitched back together. Thinking about the things Dr. Coombs, the husband, had told him about the surgery, especially the nasty parts of it, left him feeling slightly queasy. He normally was not one to faint at the first sight of blood and growing up on a farm had shown him a few things about severe injuries, in animals and humans, but with his stomach still functioning less than reliably and the chicken soup not quite settled down yet, he found himself taking a deep steadying breath.

"Is everything alright?", Dr. Coombs asked him concernedly. "You look a bit pale."

"Everything fine", he replied shortly, taking another deep breath and hoping his stomach would stay where it belonged. "Just struggling still a bit with the chicken soup."

"Yes, that's normal", she said sympathetically. "It takes time for everything to start working again as it should. Don't count on any appetite while eating in the next few weeks. Shall I stop with the examination and continue later?"

"No, I think I can manage", Dick answered, tearing his gaze away from his battered abdomen and looking to the ceiling.

"Okay", she said, then continued with gently tapping his abdomen, watching his face for a reaction to the pain. It still hurt, every time they did this, but at least it hurt a bit less with each passing day.

"You're doing fine", she finally stated, while she spread a salve over the suture and then started to wrap it back up. "No sign of any complications, which is really good. There is still some infection in the peritoneum, but it has clearly receded to the lower right quadrant, which is exactly the way this should heal. It will be another ten days until the infection and the swelling will be fully gone. Keep up the good recovery and you'll be out of here in two week's time."

"Good", Dick said, taking the proffered glass of water and meds the doctor was handing him. "I can't miss out too long on the training."

"I know you're itching to get out of here, but just keep in mind that recovery time will be longer if you put too much strain on your body too early", she told him, giving him an intent look.

"Yeah, I know", he replied, rather reluctantly. He knew she was right, but time was pressing, he could not just lean back and patiently wait for his body to be back to normal again.

Just as the doctor got up from the chair, Tessa came to them again.

"There are three soldiers waiting to see you, Lieutenant Winters", she said.

"Yes, it's fine, I expect them", he replied, rolling down his sweater and sitting up a bit straighter in bed.

The nurse nodded and motioned for Lipton, Guarnere and Roe to come closer. The three of them stepped up to his bed hesitantly, looking around uneasily at all the medical equipment. Dick could feel with them, after all it was clear for all soldiers that the chances were rather high for them to end up here as well in the course of the war and none of them was actually comfortable with that thought.

"Sergeant Lipton, Sergeant Guarnere, Medic Roe", he addressed them formally. "Good to see you."

"Good to see you, too, sir", Lipton replied for all three of them, then looked rather curiously at the doctor standing beside his bed.

"This is Dr. Coombs", Dick thought it proper to introduce her. "Her husband operated on me." And then he explained to her, "The three of them were responsible for bringing me here as fast as they could. Medic Roe was the one diagnosing me with appendicitis."

"Oh, so he's the one whose advices you decided to throw to the wind, lieutenant", she remarked pointedly, but giving Roe an appreciative nod.

"Yeah, you could put it that way", Dick had to admit rather unwillingly, noticing Guarnere biting back a grin at the soft reproach of the doctor.

"It's good to know that you have competent medics in the field", she said to Roe, giving him a smile that left the medic shuffling his feet shyly.

"Thank you, ma'am… doctor", Roe replied timidly.

"I'll leave you then to your visitors, lieutenant", she said, nodding to the three soldiers, then walking across the ward to another patient.

"They're really not hesitant to speak their minds here", Dick explained, giving them a wry smile.

"I can see that", Lipton replied with a smile of his own. "How are you doing, sir?"

"Much better, thanks", Dick answered, feeling a bit uneasy to talk about his illness in front of the men, but at the same time knowing that he owned them an honest answer, after all the trouble they had gone through to bring him to hospital. "It's agonizingly slow-going, but at least I'm making progress. As of today, they even let me eat again."

Dick had meant for the last part to sound light-hearted, but judging from the crestfallen looks on his men's faces, it had fallen flat.

"So you won't be back anytime soon, sir?", Guarnere asked, not fully able to mask his disappointment.

"Not in the next few weeks, I'm afraid", he answered cheerlessly, deciding against telling them about the recovery time of three months Lizzie had talked about.

The long faces told him everything he needed to know about the state second platoon was in, but he asked about it anyway.

"I heard you got Lieutenant Shames as replacement", he said quietly.

"Yes", Guarnere spat, ignoring a moderating look from Lipton, "he's the most useless, goddamned cowboy we had to put up with until now. We had not one free afternoon in the last eight days. He's even pulling us out of the film evenings to go through an exercise again. When we don't come running at his bellowing he already threatens with court-martial. But worst of it all, his blundering in the field is even worse than Sobel's and we're not even allowed to try and make it better."

By the gloomy faces of Lipton and Roe, Dick could see that Guarnere was not exaggerating. All three of them looked tired and worn, he noticed with some alarm.

"But he can't just revoke your weekend passes, only Sobel can do that", Dick put in frowningly.

"Yeah, but he can go with his notions of discipline to Sobel and receives more or less a carte blanche", Lipton replied dully.

"What about the other platoons?", Dick queried.

"They're not quite as bad off as we are", Lipton answered. "With Lieutenant Welsh still in Bristol, third platoon is struggling a bit with Lieutenant Matheson as replacement. And first platoon with Lieutenant Peacock... Well, let's just say at least _they_'re used to him. But Lieutenant Shames' methods affect the whole company. The mood is low at the moment. One or two of the men are even thinking of applying for reassignment to another company or giving up."

"What?", Dick exclaimed, now truly alarmed. "This can't be happening. We're too far along to make any major personnel changes in the companies. Who are these men?"

Lipton exchanged an uneasy glance with Guarnere.

"I'm not sure we're supposed to tell you, sir", Guarnere explained reluctantly. "They might not feel comfortable with you knowing and so far they're only thinking about it."

Dick sighed, hating the powerlessness he was confined to. When Lipton had told him that Dick was the one holding the company together the night he got sick, he had never thought of how spot on the sergeant's comment might prove to be.

"Alright, I won't press you for names", Dick replied, then looked at all three intently. "Listen, I'll be out of here in two weeks. I'll try to see Colonel Sink shortly after that, maybe I can talk him into giving me back command while still on light duty. Or at least partial command."

"Sir, the doctors here will need to clear you for duty", Roe explained quietly. "Sink will require some kind of medical proof that you're fit to take back command."

Dick knew that there was no way he could talk the doctors into proclaiming him fit for duty earlier than what they deemed reasonable. However, they probably did not know how important it was for him to return to Easy as soon as possible. It was downright infuriating.

"Okay", he said slowly, releasing his pent up breath, struggling for calm, "you just need to hold on for a while longer. It will be stressful and it will be aggravating, but it won't be forever. You can't choose your officers, that's how it works in the army."

"Yeah, thanks for that, I didn't know", Guarnere commented snarkily.

"I can only promise I'll be back as soon as they'll let me", Dick insisted, ignoring Guarnere's remark.

"If you had listened to Roe or any of us, for that matter", Guarnere said scathingly, "we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Do you really think I don't know that?!", Dick exclaimed, his frustration getting the better of him. "Do you want to hear that all of this is my fault? Fine, I'll say it, all of this stupid mess is my very own fault, okay? I'm mulling this over and over in my head since I woke up. Just don't think that I don't care."

The three men looked at him with wide eyes, taken aback at Dick's sudden outburst.

"But it won't change a thing", he added more quietly, feeling the flare of temper taxing his weakened strength. "We have to look forward, not backward."

"Yes, I think we can all agree on that", Lipton remarked, looking pointedly at his fellow sergeant.

"Sir, I apologize, I didn't mean for this to sound like an accusation", Guarnere said contritely and Dick gave him a forgiving nod. "It's not your fault you got sick in the first place. It's just this fucking situation and this fucking Shames that got me all riled up." Then he added quietly, "My weekend passes are revoked for the next four weeks, for insubordination."

"Well, maybe telling him that even a blind chicken would make better use of the map than him might not have been what he wanted to hear, Bill", Lipton replied, a faint smile on his face. Dick found his mood slightly lifting when picturing the situation in his head.

"I didn't exactly plan on him hearing that", Guarnere explained morosely. "You could have warned me he was standing right behind me, you know."

"I didn't see him coming up either", Lipton replied, then said to Dick, "He has this habit of just popping out of the ground in the most unfortunate moments. You could get the impression he has eyes in the back of his head."

"Yeah, I know what it feels like", Dick replied, feeling a smile tug at his lips despite their situation. "I used to deliver milk as a summer job to pay for college and I had a boss that was exactly like that. During the two years I did this, I smashed only two bottles, but he caught me both times, yelling at me for minutes on an end. It was really disconcerting, because most of the times, he wasn't even there. Just bad luck."

"_You_ delivered milk?", Guarnere asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, I did", Dick answered, feeling faintly amused that Guarnere looked so shocked about it. "I wasn't born a lieutenant, you know."

This made Roe and Lipton smile a bit.

"So, do you think you can hold on a while longer?", Dick asked, bringing them back on topic.

"I guess so, yeah", Lipton answered, looking at Guarnere and Roe nodding their heads. "We won't have much choice. But there's not one man in the company that isn't looking forward to having you back again, sir."

"That's good to hear, after all", Dick replied warmly, feeling grateful for the loyalty of his men. "By the way, I didn't thank you yet for bringing me to the hospital. It's all a bit blurry, but I know you did everything possible to get me back to the base as fast as possible. You did an awesome job that night, with everything."

"Thank you, sir", Guarnere murmured, the others nodding their heads.

"Maybe it will cheer you up to know that the maneuver will be counted as a success", Dick told them. "We've got the best results of all platoons of every company so far. So whatever Shames tells you, you need to keep in mind that you're fine soldiers, each and every one of you."

"That's very good news, sir", Lipton replied, smiling brightly. "And it'll be much needed to bolster the boys' confidence."

"Tell the men, but don't spread it too far", Dick cautioned. "It's not official yet."

"Understood, sir", Guarnere answered, then deposited a big and rather thick brown envelope on the nightstand. "Lieutenant Nixon asked me to bring you this. He can't make it for a visit today, he's in meetings all day. Said it's some magazines you asked for."

"Thanks, Bill", Dick answered, smiling inwardly at his friend's cover for the paperwork.

"Alright, boys, I think it's time to get back, lunch time is almost over", Lipton said, looking at his watch.

"Thanks for the visit", Dick replied. "Come back whenever you want or if there's more trouble. I'm quite isolated at the moment, but as soon as I'm out of here, I can at least hope to get an ear up at regiment."

"We'll do just that, sir", Lipton said. "Get well soon."

Dick nodded at them and watched his men leave the ward.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"_Bleiben Sie stehen_", Dick murmured quietly to himself, testing the pronunciation of the foreign words on his tongue.

"Stay where you are", he translated softly to himself, then looked up in the notebook on his lap if he was correct. Luckily, he was pretty good at learning foreign languages and the few sentences of German every officer had to have ready at hand seemed to stick with him quite well.

He was sitting in the middle of his bed in the ward, surrounded by loose sheets and notebooks, from treatises on warfare and strategy to the newest reports on the battlegrounds of Europe. It was shortly after midnight and just like the night before, Dick had been unable to sleep. At least he had something to do now, although he knew very well that he needed more practice in the field maneuvers, not more theory on warfare.

"_Kommen Sie hierher_", he pronounced softly, but before he could think of the translation, he heard soft footsteps and the curtain was drawn open. Lizzie walked slowly up to his bed, taking in the stacks of paper with raised eyebrows.

"First", she said without a greeting, giving Dick a pointed look, "do you really plan on making a habit of not sleeping at night? And second, what in God's name are you doing?"

Dick gave her a smile, feeling happy to see her again, since she had not been around all day.

"First, no, I don't plan on keeping you awake every night", he answered, smiling gently. "And second, I'm just trying to get some paperwork and theoretical stuff done."

"Okay, and which part of you staying on full medical leave for the next six weeks was unclear to you?", she asked long-sufferingly, lowering herself into the chair beside his bed. She looked better rested than yesterday evening, although her hair was already hanging wildly around her face again, which was why she tried to cram it back under her nurse cap.

"Well, this isn't actually light duty, just some material for the theoretical classes I attend", he explained, then added quietly, "Makes me feel slightly more useful."

Only now, Lizzie gave him a smile, showing her white teeth, then nodded her head.

"Yes, I should've known you're someone who gets restless quickly", she replied, her eyes twinkling warmly. "To be honest, I do understand you, I'd be a terrible patient, too. Can't stay in the same place for too long without getting edgy." Then added quickly, "But this doesn't mean I approve of you going against doctor's orders, of course."

"Yeah, of course", Dick said lightly, noticing the wink she gave him. Her presence already felt familiar to him, somehow brightening up the room. And his mood, too, strangely enough.

"So, what are you doing?", she asked, eyeing the mass of paper on his bed curiously.

"At the moment, I'm trying to learn some German", he explained, showing her the notebook on his lap. "Well, not actually learning, more like memorizing a few sentences. '_Legt die Waffen nieder_' is 'Drop your weapons' or '_Bleiben Sie stehen_' 'Stay where you are'. Things like that."

The smile on Lizzie's face was wiped off by a strange look flitting across her face, then she schooled it into an impassive mask. It was so quick Dick was not really sure if he had just imagined it.

"Oh", she said coolly, "have you learned '_Fahr zur Hölle, Nazidreck_' yet?"

"No", Dick answered slowly, watching her closely. Her eyes had changed from the warm brown to a frosty grey, remembering him of slate. "But I have this hunch that I won't find that expression in my book. What does it mean?"

"'Go to hell, nazi scum'", she translated, looking at her fingers in her lap, then lifting her eyes to him. There was a fierceness to her gaze that seemed to dare him to comment on what she had just said, making him cautious of his next words.

He thought her behavior a bit strange, but he still decided to ask, "So, you know German or do you just know some imprecations?"

"No, I actually know it quite well", she replied slowly, frowning to herself.

"Were you teaching it before you became a nurse?", Dick inquired gently, hoping to draw her out of the tenseness that had suddenly taken hold of her.

"How do you know I was a teacher?", she asked back, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Mrs. Dr. Coombs told me today", he answered, watching her fiddle with her fingernails. "I'm sure you were a good teacher. Why did you give it up?"

The thundery look on her face and the thin line of her lips immediately told him that he had chosen the wrong topic to lift her mood. Whatever he had brought to her mind, it certainly were not happy memories.

"Look, I don't think any of this is your business", she told him rather frostily, getting up from the chair. "I've got things to do."

"Lizzie", he called out to her, as she was about to leave, but she just ignored him, pulling the curtain close behind her. Dick was left where he was sitting, staring a long time at the space where she had disappeared. Darn it, this was certainly not the kind of conversation he had looked forward to for the whole day. Where had he gone wrong to make her so very reserved? He had no idea.

Sighing deeply, he went back to his German sentences, still thinking about Lizzie. What was it with her? He had enjoyed their meeting the night before, he had even taken pleasure in the light banter they had shared. He had also found himself looking forward to seeing her again, because she was capable of distracting him from his worries with only two sentences. But for every step forward they took, they made two backward. Sighing again, he forced himself to concentrate on the stuff in his books, putting every thought of Lizzie out of his mind, only halfway succeeding.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Lizzie, stop your daydreaming, I need that bandage", Greta told her rather briskly, one hand tamped down on a pad that covered a freshly sutured wound on a private's thigh.

"Sorry", Lizzie murmured, handing her the bandage and telling herself to concentrate on the work at hand. She had slept badly, after talking to Winters (no, he was Dick now) the night before and she found her thoughts always circling back to her family and everything that had happened. If she was honest to herself, it really had not been Dick's fault, but he had triggered an unwelcome train of thought that she had worked hard to push from her mind.

"Could you prepare the tetanus vaccine?", Greta asked her, more gently this time.

"Yeah, of course", Lizzie answered, going to fetch the vaccine and a syringe. When she came back, the private was already starting to dress again, suffering from no other wound beside the rather large gash from a barbed wire fence in his thigh.

"Here", she said, handing Greta the syringe, then cleaning away the bloody pads. Since there was nothing else to be done, Lizzie got up and left her friend to finish up the patient. Stepping outside the barracks, Lizzie took a deep breath and watched the ever present English clouds flit over the sky. She had yet to see just one beautiful day, without rain and without clouds, in this country. Sitting down on the steps, she lit herself a cigarette, breathing in the smoke deeply, then pulled a half finished letter to her father out of her pocket. She had started it two days after arriving in England more than a month ago and had never found the time to finish it. Reading through it again, she heard the door open behind her, and when she turned her head, she saw Greta coming to her.

"Hey", her friend greeted her softly, sitting down beside her on the steps. "You seem preoccupied, is something amiss?"

"No, not really", Lizzie answered slowly. "Well, at least not more wrong than usually. I just realized that I haven't written to my father yet and that he doesn't know my address here. But if I write to him now, I might soon receive some bad news, you know."

"Your brother?", Greta questioned softly and Lizzie nodded her head. "Well, I don't mean to sound callous, but maybe it would be good for all of you to know he's dead, to be able to wipe the slate clean and go on living."

"Yeah, I know what you mean", Lizzie sighed, watching her shoes.

"How long has it been since the last time you heard anything of him?", Greta asked her.

"Well, the last time I've seen him was the day when he told us that he had enlisted, almost two years ago", Lizzie answered, feeling bitterness in her. "My father was so angry and so disappointed, he chased him out of the house and told him never to come back again. Then we received two letters, one from last spring, the other dating from the end of August, saying that he was stationed somewhere close to the river Dnieper, in the Soviet Republic Ukraine."

"That's not good", Greta replied, wrapping an arm around Lizzie's shoulders. "The Red Army is gaining ground there daily..."

"I know, I read the newspaper, too", Lizzie cut her off tersely, feeling helpless in her anger and bitterness. "God, just how could he be so stupid, I really don't get it! It's like spitting into my father's face!"

Hot tears welled up in her eyes and Lizzie brushed them aside angrily. There was nothing to be gained by bawling like a baby, she just had to accept reality and go on with her life. Her brother did not deserve to make her miserable, even now, after everything that had happened in the last two years. But he was still her little brother and she could not get the childhood memories of them playing in the garden or swimming in the sea in summer out of her head.

"Lizzie, come here", Greta said gently and drew her into her arms, but Lizzie disentangled herself from her friend, wiping at her eyes and forcing a smile onto her face.

"It's fine", she replied, sniffling a little. "I'm fine, really. It just suddenly welled up and everything started circling in my head automatically. Just because of Winters."

"What?", Greta asked incredulously. "You can't make him responsible for everything, Lizzie, that's not fair."

Now Lizzie found herself chuckling a bit at her friend defending Dick.

"I know", she replied, smiling faintly. "It's not really his fault, but he was speaking some German words, then asked me about why I became a nurse, that somehow brought everything back, you know."

"Then you turned the cold shoulder on him, I presume", Greta said pointedly, shaking her head to herself, when Lizzie nodded abashedly. "Look, all I can tell you about him is that he's a really decent man, trying to do the right thing."

"I know that already", Lizzie told her friend softly. "We talked, you know. I might have been wrong, he's not all that bad."

"Very good", Greta mockingly applauded. "Then it's actually true. One of the patients of the ward complained about voices and light from Winter's bed in the middle of the night. I told him that couldn't be, because you were on night-shift."

"He had some troubles sleeping", Lizzie reluctantly revealed. "And he's just too stubborn to accept any meds, so I stayed with him for a while."

Greta smiled brightly, before Lizzie narrowed her eyes on her friend, "Speaking of him, why did you tell him I was a teacher?"

"Ah, that just somehow came up when I examined him yesterday", Greta replied smilingly.

"Just came up, huh?"

"Yeah, really", her friend answered innocently.

Lizzie watched her friend suspiciously, getting the impression that Greta was planning something. A short silence followed, then her friend turned to her again, her demeanor more serious than before.

"I wanted to ask you something", she said slowly, looking Lizzie deep in the eyes.

"Yes?", Lizzie asked, looking at Greta expectantly.

"How would you like becoming a godmother?", her friend inquired, a small smile tugging on her lips.

"What?", Lizzie asked excitedly, not believing her ears. "You sure? What about Paul?"

"Well, I talked to Paul first, and he said he couldn't imagine someone better. So what do you say?"

"I'd love to", Lizzie replied emotionally, enveloping her friend into a tight hug.

-tbc-


	7. Chapter 7

_A very heartfelt thanks goes first to my reviewers:_

_**BatOutOfHell-Madness **__(Hehe, you're sooo impatient for Dick to get back to his men! The poor man is still sick, you know... :-)) Haha, I loved that you thought of Greta as Courtney Cox, it's actually not all that far away from how I pictured her in my head. Well, Greta's blond, but Cox has the same settled, intelligent character as Greta. When I created her, I thought mostly about Julianne Moore... :-)))), __**beth-rodrigues.77**__ (Hey! Glad you're interested in learning more about Lizzie's past, because we go there now in this chapter... ;-) And yeah, I think the guys really like Dick, he's keeping everything together. And yes, Lizzie and Dick will understand each other very soon, I promise. :-))), __**ScarlettLeon**__ (Very happy you love Greta! There are always some insecurities when it comes to original characters, so I'm absolutely thrilled you like her. And yeah, the Easy boys are really just a lovely bunch... :-)))) and __**ChocAndSnow19**__ (So glad you liked the last chapter so much! Yeah, I actually missed the Easy boys, too. It's just not the same when they're not around. At least they'll make another appearance in this chapter and I promise they'll be around for the rest of the story. Hehe, it's so funny that everyone says how they can't wait for Dick to be back with his men, you guys are sooo impatient... :-)))) He needs to take his time or he won't really have the chance to get to know Lizzie. ;-))._

_And folks, don't get used to the length of the chapter, alright? :-)_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"What do you think you're doing?", Lizzie demanded pointedly, not believing her eyes.

Dick snapped up his head, looking at her sheepishly from where he stood beside his bed, one hand protectively around his middle, the other placed against the wall in support. There was no one else with him, so she guessed that he had got up all by himself.

"Just stretching my legs", he replied a bit breathlessly, taking a small step away from his bed, then rested against the wall.

"What a splendid idea", she commented sarcastically, coming closer. She could see that he was hunched over slightly, probably from the uncomfortable pull of the stitches in his side, but that did not stop him from taking another step away from his bed.

"The doctor said that I need to be up and moving", he told her innocuously.

"Yes, but he didn't say that you're allowed to tear your stitches in case you fall flat on your face when no one is there to support you", she replied meaningfully.

"It's fine, I can manage", he told her shortly, trying to mask a wince.

"Yes, of course", Lizzie replied ironically. "But sadly enough, your trek is ending here, because you're now returning to your bed."

There it was again, that stormy look on his face she had already encountered a few times before. She could see that he was normally used to get his way, showing a determination that probably made him a good leader. He was not someone you defied lightly and even at his most stubborn, he still held himself with a certain grace that made it quite hard to be angry with him, now that she knew him a bit better.

"You need a hand?", she asked, not at all surprised when he shook his head.

He took another two or three steps away from her, probably just to show her that he could do it, only then turning around and slowly walking back to his bed. A faint sheen of sweat was showing on his forehead and the hand with which he supported himself against the wall started trembling.

Lizzie was at his side in the blink of an eye, which was not a moment too soon, because his hand suddenly slipped on the wall and without thinking she slung both her arms around him to keep him upright. She found herself almost nose to nose with him and felt his breath swaying her bangs softly. His face was so close to hers that she could count the freckles on his cheeks and her arms around him absorbed the warmth of his firm body.

Taking a shuddering breath and telling herself that her heart was only racing because of the near-accident, she looked up at him and saw his blue eyes staring at hers in amazement. His lips were slightly open and she suddenly found herself wondering what they tasted like. Maybe if she just closed her eyes and pretended they had met under total different circumstances, then perhaps...

"Sorry", he stuttered breathlessly, jerking her out of her imagination, but made no move to separate himself from her. He was blinking rapidly, tearing his eyes away from her face, looking flustered. Through the thin fabric of their clothes she could feel his heart beating madly against her chest.

"Yeah... well...", Lizzie stammered, his body so close to hers making clear thoughts almost impossible. She slowly pulled back one of her arms and shifted to his side, supporting him with his left arm slung over her shoulder. This position was less dangerous, since his lips were not anymore in reach to provoke something rash, but she was still acutely aware of where she touched him, her treacherous body pulsating with each shuddering breath she took. He was taut as a bow string under her hands, she could feel his muscles quivering beneath her fingers.

Only when she had managed to sit him down on the bed and took a step back from him, she was again able to form coherent thoughts, realizing he deserved a scolding for his carelessness.

"That was a stupid thing to do, wandering off on your own", she chided him, but somehow could not get herself to put real emphasis behind it. Damn it, she was still thinking of his lips!

"I'm sorry", he muttered again, looking more confused than she had ever seen him before. Well, maybe not counting that few hours directly after surgery. His eyes were cast down to the floor, he was definitely evading her gaze. His brow was drawn together in a frown and she could hear him slowly release a pent up breath. For a short moment she wondered if he had felt it, too, but then told herself that he was probably just embarrassed because he had almost fallen flat on his nose like she had predicted.

"Did you hurt yourself?", Lizzie asked more gently, glad for the space in between them that made rational thoughts much more easy. God, what was the matter with her? She was a nurse and very much used to touching male bodies, not some hormonal teenager that started giggling madly as soon as a handsome boy only gave her a fleeting look. He was not even all that attractive, he was red haired (who liked gingers anyway?) and his face was too long, his mouth too small. And she had nothing left at all for uptight cases like him, it was after all what had got them into a spat in the first place. It took some more effort to convince her jittery thoughts back on sensible grounds.

"No", Dick answered, visibly pulling himself together and tearing his gaze away from the floor to look at her with deep, soulful eyes that melted Lizzie's resolution to be reasonable in less than an instant. "I'm fine." Then he added with a faint quirk of a smile, "Thanks for saving me."

"No problem, just tell me next time before you go wandering off again", she replied, being unable to be cross with him when he looked at her like that. She slowly came closer again, trying to put the way his body had felt in her arms out of her head, then lowered herself into the chair beside his bed.

"I'm sorry if I said something wrong yesterday evening", he began softly, leaning back in bed and slowly relaxing, the rigid posture of his body slackening slightly. "I didn't mean to pry."

"It's fine, you don't have to apologize for it", Lizzie replied, playing with a strand of her hair. She had thought about her reaction for the last 24 hours and she had to confess that he was totally blameless for bringing it up. Nevertheless, it was sweet of him to apologize and try to set things right between them. "It was my fault, I overreacted. Has to do with my family and stuff, it's really complicated."

"You can tell me, if you want to…", he said slowly, then cut himself off, looking unsure. She could see that he was not used to take over the role of the confidant, at least not for women he hardly knew. "I mean, if it would help to talk about it. You don't have to, but it would stay safe with me."

"Oh Sigmund, when have we changed places, with you treating me now?", she asked, trying to make light of the situation. But his face was so open right now, his eyes so understanding and determined to help her, that they almost begged her to trust him, and trust him fully at that.

"Alright", she sighed, shrugging her shoulders in defeat. "I really don't want to burden you, but since you asked for it and I behaved like a total ass yesterday, you deserve to know. Just be ready to have me knocking at your door in the middle of the night from now on, bawling my eyes out in front of you whenever something bothers me."

"Deal", he replied, smiling gently at her.

"You asked me yesterday how it comes that I know German", she slowly started. "I learned it at home, my father is German. He came to the US almost twenty-five ago. He was in World War I, serving in the German Army, and as soon as the war was over, he left for the US, never going back again. I think it has something to do with the horrors of war, I'm not sure, he never really talked about it. He worked as a private lecturer of German language and literature at Westfield State University in Massachusetts. So, as you can see, he was quite strict in teaching me and my brothers what he called an '_anständiges Deutsch_', well, a 'decent German', not just the basics."

When she took a short break, she saw that Dick was listening intently, giving her an encouraging nod to continue. He was all forehead now and for a moment she could picture him in headquarters, studying the different options of operations for his troops.

"Then he met my mom, a true Massachusite, they got married and well… had children, obviously, or I wouldn't be here. I'm the oldest of four, the other three all brothers. Everything went fine, then my mom died when I was thirteen. My father had to give up his job as a lecturer and went into private business as a translator of advertising catalogues for the German customers of a firm selling bathtubs. Then Hitler came to power in 1933 and the firm cut business relations with Germany. My father could stay with the firm, but he was since then working as a foreman. He really hates that job, you know."

"Must have been hard for him and for you", Dick murmured thoughtfully, when she stopped talking. He looked so serious and dedicated to support her, if only with a gentle word. It moved her.

"Yeah, it was", she acknowledged, clearing her throat. "But the hardest part is yet to come. I always wanted to become a historian or an art historian, probably because my father often told us about these ancient European myths and all the stories of kings and queens. But that was out of question then, I had to take care of my little brothers, and so I decided to become a teacher. This way, I was quite well-paid and could stay close to my family."

Lizzie took a deep breath, playing with the thought of stopping there, but decided to just tell him.

"Then my brother, Johann or just Joe, chose to enlist in the army", she forced the words out, almost choking on them.

She could see the puzzled look on Dick's face, then he hesitantly asked, "Well, that's not too bad, is it?"

"In the German Army, as a _Volksdeutscher _in the Waffen-SS", she revealed in a strained voice, battling for calm. No matter how long she mulled this over in her head, it still hurt so much and it still made her angry.

She could see Dick raise his eyebrows in disbelief, then a deep frown took hold of his face. It was only a matter of seconds before she would hear his reproach and what she could have done to prevent that.

"How could he do that to you?", he asked in a low voice, looking at her closely, but without even a hint of a reprimand towards her in his voice. He was still firmly on her side, she realized with deep relief. "After all that you've done for him and your family?"

It felt so good, right then, to have Dick's understanding and his compassion. Honestly, she could have hugged him for it. There was hardly anyone who knew this about her family, because she had been afraid of the questions to come. Is your father a Nazi then? Didn't you notice your brother turning to Hitler's lapdog? Is this just a German thing, to turn Nazi even when growing up in another country? When are _you_ leaving for Germany?

"I don't know", she replied, struggling for the second time that day against tears. She blinked a few times, trying to force them away without Dick noticing. God, he must think her a crybaby now. "It was even worse for my father. He has such a different access to what German culture is than these fucking Nazis. When he told us about Germany, he always talked about the enlightenment, the philosophers, literature, art and music. Did you know that one of the first edicts for toleration of different religions in Europe was established in Germany in the 16th century? My father's view on all of these things has nothing to do with the corrupt ideas of Hitler."

Lizzie paused again, then continued softly, "Joe had been away on college for about a year, and when he came back, he was different. We don't know what happened, or who brought him into contact with these Nazi ideas. It was not long after coming back that he enlisted. I've not seen him since."

Dick looked at her for a long time, his head tilted a bit to the side, then he asked gently, "Is this why you became a nurse?"

This took her aback, realizing that he had put two and two together very quickly. She nodded.

"Yes, it is. I had this urge to somehow wipe out my brother's stain. I wanted to become a spy first, you know. Actually killing some Nazis with my own hands."

"_You_ wanted to become a spy?", Dick asked her for confirmation, his eyebrows climbing high up on his forehead. Despite their bleak topic, she felt at the same time insulted and faintly amused at his incredulity.

"Yeah, but it seems like the guys at intelligence were about as thrilled as you with the idea of me becoming a spy", she told him wryly, glad that he gave her the opening for some alleviating teasing, and watching him school his face into something more neutral. "Officially, they told me that I'm too young, but I probably just wasn't suited at all. They said my German was good, but the Krauts would still know that I'm not one of theirs. And I've never been to Germany, so I don't actually know what it's like to live there. They told me that I should apply as a nurse, if I wanted to do some good for my country. First, I was too offended to actually think about it, but after going over that idea in my head a few times, I actually took a liking to it."

"I think it fits you better", Dick told her with a faint smile. "You're hands are more dedicated to relieve than to deal out pain."

It was such a sweet little thing to say of him, that Lizzie was for once at a loss of what to reply.

"Thanks, I guess", she answered hesitantly, then could not hold herself back from adding, "Although these hands still itch to do some real damage to those Kraut fuckers."

He looked surprised at her swearing, but then nodded his head.

"Yeah, I think I can understand, although you need to know that it is vital to go into battle with a clear head", he lectured, making her roll her eyes at him.

"Didn't I just say that I'm probably unsuited as a spy?", she replied long-sufferingly. "You don't need to rub it in, you know."

"Alright, I'll stop", he conceded wryly, then became more solemn. "Thanks for trusting me with this. You have some tough times behind you, but I'm sure you did everything right so far. Nothing of what happened is your fault."

"Thanks", Lizzie whispered, not having realized how good it felt to have someone telling her that she was blameless for her brother's treason. She had spent nights at an end thinking about where she went wrong with Joe. It was so easy to judge everything from hindsight. She had wanted to visit him during his time in college, but she had never found the time. Could she have prevented him from joining the German Army if she had given him a good piece of her mind when finding out whom he spent his time with? Probably not, but there were still some what-ifs.

"So", she said, pulling herself out of the tendrils of the past and changing the topic to some safer ground, "what do you say to a lovely dinner of chicken soup and tea?"

"Last time I didn't have much choice, the Valkyrie practically forced the soup down my throat", Dick replied, trying to frown, but the twitch of his lips gave him away.

"The Valkyrie?", Lizzie asked, puzzled.

"Well, Betty", he provided, shrugging his shoulders.

Now Lizzie burst out laughing, the laughter maybe a tad louder than normal, but helping her overcoming her pent up emotions from telling him about her family. It was either laughing or crying, but since Dick gave her the opportunity, she rather chose to laugh.

"How fitting", she replied, still giggling to herself, seeing Dick giving her a full-fledged grin. "And here I thought you had no humor."

"That's a common misunderstanding", he replied drily and with just the right dose of snobbery to his voice, setting Lizzie off laughing again. She noticed a figure approaching from the corner of her eyes, but before she could turn her head, she already heard the by now familiar drawl.

"You forgot to invite me to the party", Lieutenant Nixon commented with a smirk, stemming his hands into his hips and looking from Lizzie to Dick and back again.

Lizzie struggled to compose herself, patting down her hair, then getting up and offering Nixon the visitor's chair.

"Lieutenant", she said in a mock-professional voice, seeing Dick give her another smile, "this is a vital part of patient's treatment. You need to cheer them up from time to time."

"Well, to me it looked more like the patient was cheering _you_ up, my dear Florence Nightingale", Nixon put in lazily, but with a mind keen as a razor. Lizzie told herself then and there never to underestimate him.

"Let's just say we cheered ourselves up mutually", Dick proposed smilingly.

"Yeah, but that sounds slightly... improper", Nixon quipped with a grin like a Cheshire cat.

"Get your mind out of the gutter", Lizzie told him, playfully swatting at him. She saw that Dick already looked flustered again at the teasing. That one was a hopeless case, if only it would not endear him to her all the more. "Since you're here now, Lieutenant Casanova, you can help me and feed him. Make sure he eats up and doesn't throw the dishes around."

She gave Dick a wink at that, but there was a short flicker of disappointment flitting over his face, before he masked it with a smile.

"That was an accident", he told her long-sufferingly, but then was interrupted by Nixon asking him what had happened.

Lizzie shook her head to herself, then went to find some food for Dick.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The long conversation with Lizzie had kept Dick's mind occupied for a good part of the next day. He was not all that sure why she had opened up towards him, considering their rather bumpy start. But she seemed to trust him, he was sure she usually would not just tell any patient about her difficult background. When all her prickly armor had been stripped away, he had been able to see the woman beneath: as frail, hurt and lost in this war as everyone else. But she had not been broken by it, she had decided to take up the fight and she had his respect for that. She had an energy to herself, a fire that would help her through the tough times ahead.

He tried to put his mind back to the book on his lap, but he found himself staring into space again after only a few moments, his thoughts circling back to her. Rubbing his eyes and slouching down in bed, he tried to concentrate on his paperwork, without real success. He was only half aware he was slowly nodding off over a report, thoughts of Lizzie even accompanying him into a much-needed nap. It seemed like he had only closed his eyes for a few minutes before he came awake at the touch of a warm hand on his shoulder.

"Good evening", Lizzie cheerily greeted him, tossing back the blanket from his bed, making him blink sleepily up at her. "No wonder you can't sleep at night if you doze away the whole afternoon."

She had not been around the whole day and Dick guessed that she had been busy elsewhere. By her smile he could tell that her optimistic professional front was back in place.

"Up you go. You wanted to stretch your legs yesterday, you can wander around now", she encouraged him, clapping her hands once.

"What about coffee first?", he could not hold himself back from asking, stifling a yawn and earning himself a pointed look.

"This isn't breakfast in bed, you know", she quipped, but her eyes twinkled with amusement despite her stemming her hands into her hips. "And you very well know you're still on a tea and soup diet. Coffee isn't good for you."

"Alright, alright", he relented with a sigh, letting himself be helped to his feet. A bout of dizziness made him reach out for support on the wall, but Lizzie's hands were firmly around his arms, keeping him from swaying.

"I got you", she softly told him, patiently waiting for his lightheadedness to abate. Dick could not help the feeling of shame warming his head. Darn it, it was ten days since the surgery and his body still felt weak as a kitten. When would it finally get better? And what did Lizzie think about his pathetic tottering?

He slowly set one foot in front of the other with her holding his arm as if he were some old dodderer, noticing with dismay the strain walking put on his body. Moving around still took way too much effort, he found himself out of breath as soon as he had managed to get up on his two feet. The times when he had been capable of running twelve miles in less than two hours seemed like a lifetime ago. Worst thing was that he could barely lift his right leg because of the pain this movement evoked in his side, making him limp and shuffle his feet. At least that completed the image of the dodderer. He also felt the strain it put on the stitches in his abdomen, it seemed like they would break open at any moment, so his hand was constantly pressed to his side. He did not actually think that he could prevent the wound from ripping open, but it still brought a slight reassurance.

"You're doing fine", she encouraged him with a supportive nod, while slowly walking beside him, probably noticing his mood darkening.

As much as Dick wanted to vent his rising frustration on someone, he managed to bite his lips from making a comment. It was not her fault, really, but he was getting fed up with the slow progress he was making.

"Alright, you're angry now, I can tell", Lizzie continued lightly, shaking her head at him. "You don't have any reason to be upset, you're body is healing really quickly. Ten days ago we thought we might save us the effort of surgery and bury you right away. Now look at you, up and about again."

"Burial would've been quicker", Dick muttered darkly, staring at the ground in front of his feet.

"Yeah, definitely!", Lizzie replied, a grin stealing on her face. "And cheaper, too. Can't really think of any reason why we finally decided against it… Oh, yeah, now I remember, you were still alive and many people would've actually missed you if you'd died."

Dick felt a slight squeeze on his arm where she supported him, and he lifted his gaze to look at her, the open smile on her face making it quite hard to still be irritated. She was really something. He had only met her a few days ago, but he had this feeling that he had known her his whole life. Maybe it was because she had trusted him with her story and the way she smiled at him, which was – as cheesy as it sounded – a bit like the sun rising in the morning.

"Oh, I see a corner of your mouth twitching, grumpy", she teased lightly, giving him a full-fledged grin. "Now just keep that small mouth of yours pursed or one could think you're starting to smile, shedding the dark and gloomy mood you like so much to wallow in."

Alright, she had won. Her smile was just too infectious and she looked so beautiful right now, with her dark hair framing her fair face and her eyes sparkling lively. He found himself giving up his sour mood and smiling back at her.

"I thought you said your teasing wouldn't work on me", Dick commented, trying to keep up his frown, but failing miserably.

"Seems like I was wrong", Lizzie replied, beaming at him. "Maybe you're not all that special, after all."

"You think I'm special?", he dug deeper, smilingly.

"I didn't say that", she answered, looking slightly flustered. "Don't turn my words around. Just because you're an officer and probably look very respectable in your uniform doesn't make you any different from all these other sorry souls in here, trying to get back on their feet again."

It was on the tip of Dick's tongue to point out that this meant she was thinking about him in a uniform, but he restrained himself from adding that. It would probably just give her a wrong impression of him. Because she already felt so familiar, this did not mean that he actually knew her all that intimately. Maybe she had someone waiting for her back home, she could be married for all he knew!

Catching himself thinking in that direction, Dick mentally paused. Why was he even considering that? He had been thinking about her so often in the last few days, one thing slowly became clear to him: he was getting fond of her. And that might become a problem. Emotional attachments were not at all what he needed shortly before leaving for a war he might never return from. He needed a clear head in this late phase of training, as an officer even more so. So what exactly was he doing?

In the mean time, they had reached the far end of the ward and he slowly shuffled his way back to his bed.

"You don't have to turn all morose again", Lizzie said gently, misunderstanding the reasons that had wiped the smile off his face. "You are special. After all, you're the only patient in this hospital that hasn't yet tried to slap my behind."

Picturing that did certainly not help him keep his thoughts straight. He would be lying if he said that he had never thought about what she kept underneath that blue dress.

"As it seems, the rest of your patients just lack manners", Dick replied, frowning at the thought of some private touching her in an indecent way.

"Oh, that's sweet, now I finally have that older brother I always wanted", Lizzie teased, but the cheerfulness sounded slightly too forced.

Dick had to confess that his thoughts were not all that brotherly. They reached his bed in silence and she helped him lower himself back down onto his bed. When she drew back her hands from his body, he felt himself already missing her touch, the warmth of her fingers lingering even after she had let go of him.

"Speaking of family", Lizzie said hesitantly, reaching into her dress and pulling out a pink letter. "This came for you today."

Dick took the letter, scanning the handwriting of the address and already recognizing his sister's ornamental writing.

"Don't you want to open it?", she asked curiously, when he made no move to read the letter right away. "Maybe your sweetheart tells you that she has run off with the local police officer because his uniform is nicer than yours."

Although she meant it as a joke, Dick thought he could hear out a fine insecurity.

"I highly doubt that", he just chose to answer, giving her a smile, then ripped the letter open, scanning the pages. "It's from my sister. She got married two weeks ago."

"Oh", Lizzie answered, beaming brilliantly at him. "All the best wishes! Is she older or younger than you?"

"She's two years younger than me. I have another sister who turned thirteen last spring. Oh, and the lovely English family I'm quartered with in Aldbourne village have adopted an orphan girl that already feels a bit like another younger sister", Dick answered, lifting his eyes from the pages to look at her. "Like you, I wished for an older brother in vain."

"Yeah, being the oldest really sucks, you always have to be the responsible one", she replied quietly, staring at her hands and fiddling with her nails. Dick wondered if she thought about her brother who had joined the German forces. He put the letter down to finish reading later.

"Yes, that's true, although that part was never too hard for me", he answered her gently.

"I can see that", she replied with a knowing smile, then changed the topic. "I have the next two days off, so it'll probably be Jean or Tessa taking care of you. Do me a favor and behave, alright?"

Dick chuckled at her lecturing tone of voice.

"Now I can really picture you as a teacher", he answered lightly. "You were very strict, I suppose. And if your pupils didn't behave, you read a horror story to them."

Lizzie laughed, shaking her head.

"I was strict, yeah, but I was also a popular teacher", she replied, giving him a wink. "And no, the horror stories are a private pastime or I'd have had the parents breathing down my neck in the blink of an eye. It was quite a respectable school, you know."

"Do you miss teaching?", he asked softly, hoping that he would not rip open more painful memories.

"I do, but this here also means a lot to me", she answered firmly. "Maybe I'll even stay a nurse after the war. The thought of just going back to teaching as if nothing happened is quite strange. But let's first focus on the things at hand."

Dick nodded, then saw Dr. Coombs, the wife, coming up to them.

"What are you still doing here, Lizzie?", she asked, looking pointedly at her watch. "Your shift ended almost two hours ago. Get yourself out of this ward, I don't want to see you around here in the next two days."

A bit surprised, Dick looked at Lizzie, who got up with a long-suffering sigh. He had not known she had stayed with him in her free time.

"Fine, Greta, no need to get bossy", she replied lightly to her friend. "I'm already on my way out."

Then she gave Dick a last smile and a small wave with her hand, before leaving the ward.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Since one of Lizzie's free days was a Saturday, she had wanted to go with Greta on a city tour to Oxford and then in the evening to the theatre. However, Greta had been unable to postpone her regular check-up with the gynecologist in Swindon and Lizzie had decided against going to Oxford all alone.

Instead, she spent all day in the room she shared with Jean in the nurse barracks, finally writing that letter to her father and reading a book on her bed. It was recreation, too, and she found herself quite immersed in an English translation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's _The Devil's Elixirs_, which she had first read as a teenager in German. However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to buy any books in German, so Lizzie had already been happy when she had found this English copy a bit more than a week ago in London.

In the evening, she began feeling a bit restless, after barely moving a limb for the whole day and she decided to go out all by herself to the local pub. She dressed in one of her sparse sets of civilian clothes and left the barracks and the base, walking through the pretty town of Aldbourne. It was around seven o'clock in the evening when she stepped into the pub "The King's Arms". She had been there only once before, shortly after arriving in England.

There were not many guests in the pub, she could see two grey-haired English men talking to the barkeeper, a man in his sixties with a friendly face. Around a table by the the door sat four American tank drivers, talking animatedly among themselves. Lizzie decided to sit at the far end of the bar, lowering herself on a stool.

"What can I bring you, Miss?", the barkeeper asked her politely, looking at her with curious eyes.

"A pint of beer, please", she answered, watching him raise his eyebrows.

"Are you sure you want a pint?", he asked again, probably thinking she did not knew how much that was since she was a woman and an American woman at that.

"Yes, exactly", she told him, forcing herself to smile at him. He shrugged his shoulders and left her to draw the beer.

The door to the pub opened and five soldiers stepped in. Lizzie could tell from their uniform that they were American, but they were too far away for her to tell what regiment or division they belonged to. The barkeeper came back with her beer and she paid him, leaving a tip on the counter that he accepted with a nod. Just as she started drinking her beer, one of the newly arrived soldiers came up to her, leaning on the counter and giving her a toothy grin. He was dark-haired with dark eyes that sparkled mischievously in the dim light of the pub.

"Hello there", he greeted her, tapping with his fingers on the counter. "Never realized that the local English ladies are so beautiful around here."

Lizzie laughed at that.

"Look, sergeant", she answered after quickly looking at the insignia on his uniform, "I'm as much a British town girl as you are an English gentleman."

He looked slightly surprised, but she realized that he was not one to be intimidated easily.

"So, you're one of us, huh?", he asked, grin back in place. "Even better. Nothing like a good old yankee girl, if you ask me. What are you doing so far from home?"

"The same thing as you, minus the killing part", she replied, drinking from her beer. "Serving my country."

"Okay", he said, not yet satisfied with the vague answer he received. "So you're working on the base?"

"Hey Bill, stop flirting and get us some beer!", one of his comrades, a rather short man with protruding ears, called out to him from the table.

"Yeah, yeah", the one called Bill muttered to himself, gesturing for the others to be patient.

"Go on, it's not nice to keep your friends waiting", Lizzie said, smiling slightly to herself.

"They can wait", Bill answered, flashing her another grin. "I see their ugly faces all day. So back to you. You're a nurse then?"

"Yes, I am", she confirmed, looking at his uniform again, slowly becoming aware of what division he was in and realizing that talking to him might actually come in handy. "And you're a paratrooper. I would just love to try out parachuting myself, it must be fun."

Bill laughed loudly at that.

"Yeah, it's fun", he admitted, being able to place his order with the barkeeper and then turning back to her. "And it would be even more fun if you didn't have to worry about being shot down."

"Makes sense to me", she replied, smiling at him. His five beers came and he motioned for her to follow him.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to the boys", he said with a grin, leading her to the table.

They all stood up when she came to the table.

"Guys, I found us some lovely company", Bill drawled when he presented her to the other soldiers. "Miss, this here is Carwood Lipton, Chuck Grant, Floyd Talbert, Johnny Martin and I'm Bill Guarnere."

She looked at the five men, noticing that all of them were sergeants, and gave them a smile.

"I'm Second Lieutenant Elisabeth Weiss from the Army Nurse Corps", she introduced herself with a smile, sitting down at their table. "But being an ordinary nurse I neither share the privilege nor the salary of a regular commission, so I don't see much sense in carrying the title. Just call me Lizzie."

"Weiss, huh?", Johnny, the one that had shown himself as quite impatient before, asked her with a long look.

"Yeah", she answered lazily. "But don't be afraid, sergeant, I'm firmly on your side."

This earned her some laughter from the other men.

"Lizzie works at the military hospital", Bill said with a grin.

"This means you have to watch your mouth, Bill, or the next inoculation might go wrong", Floyd quipped, tongue-in-cheek, eliciting some more laughter.

"So you're all paratroopers?", she asked, although she already knew that by looking at the insignia of the screaming eagle on their uniforms.

"Yeah", Chuck answered, drinking from his beer. "Best division in the whole army. We're the elite, you know."

"Of course", Lizzie replied, nodding mock-emphatically. "Thing just is that every soldier I treat always claims this title for his division, regiment or company."

"It's true", Bill stated. "We're Easy company, the best of the best."

There it was, she had confirmation of what she had wanted to know. They were Dick's men, there was no doubt about it.

"And what makes you so sure of that?", she asked them.

"We had the hardest training so far", Bill replied, receiving some nods from the others. "We had a heavy selection right from the beginning and it's a whole new division. Everyone of us worked his ass off to be where he is now."

Lizzie gave them a smile, looking at the men. Maybe they were slightly conceited, but she actually believed them when they said they were an elite force. All of the men seemed very young, but at the same time very determined. They really looked as if they could handle everything.

"So, what are you exactly doing?", Carwood asked her, addressing her for the first time.

"Well, nurse things", she replied dryly, receiving some grins. "I don't think you want to hear any details, it can get rather gory. I work at the military hospital with some other twenty-five American nurses. It's pretty quiet at the moment, but I don't think it's going to stay like that."

"One of our officers is being treated at the hospital", Chuck informed her.

"Really?", Lizzie asked, feigning surprise. "What's his name?"

"Lieutenant Winters", Chuck replied. "Do you know him?"

"Tall, red hair and as of a few days without an appendix?", Lizzie asked for confirmation that she did not really need, watching the others nod. "Yeah, I've seen him once or twice."

"Doesn't look like he's going to be discharged in the next few days, does it?", Bill asked her, for the first time without a smile.

"No", she answered, noticing again the impatience of the men to have their officer back. Maybe there was more behind it than she knew. "Not in the next seven days, as far as I know."

The others nodded, exchanging a few long glances, but otherwise staying quiet, confirming Lizzie's suspicion that something was off.

"So", she asked, not being able to hold herself back. "Is he a good officer?"

Now the Cheshire cat grin was back on Bill's lips.

"You like him?", he asked, eyeing her intently.

"No", she hastily replied. "Not me, but a close friend of mine is a bit sweet on him, although she's not all that sure about it yet. But she's also very shy and I promised to help her, if I could."

It was a blatant lie, but she could not have thought of something better in such a short time.

"Really? Winters?", Chuck asked her, disbelieving. "Tell your friend that she has picked herself the toughest nut to crack of all the men on the base."

"What's it with you girls and officers?", Bill drawled long-sufferingly. "What's wrong with a good-old sergeant? But for you, it always has to be an officer. Believe me, the higher up they are, the more difficult they get."

"I'll keep that in mind", Lizzie replied, a bit surprised at the answers she received. "We're not discussing my own personal taste here, it's my friend we're talking about."

"Yes, of course", Carwood answered, smiling foxily at her. The look he gave her had her quivering in her chair: he saw right through her, she was sure of it. At least the other sergeants seemed to buy her ruse.

"Well, what is there to know about Winters?", Floyd mused loudly. "He's very private, he's very dedicated to what he's doing. I don't think he's married, but I couldn't actually swear it."

"Yeah, I don't think so either", Chuck continued. "In Toccoa I saw him one evening talking to a pretty blonde, but that might as well have been his sister." He paused, then shrugged his shoulders, "If he even has a sister."

Alright, the men probably knew even less about Dick than she did, Lizzie slowly realized.

"I really don't think he's the type to fall head over heels for just a fling", Bill told her. "He seems more like the type to look for a decent girl and then settle down. After the war, mind you. I can really picture him standing in front of us and lecturing us about the distractions of any female company. The only thing he's thinking about is winning this war, I don't think there's anything else on his mind right now."

"Alright, I see", Lizzie answered, forcing herself to sound cheery despite her disappointment. "Then it's probably better to tell my friend that she should put that idea out of her mind right away."

"Just tell your _friend_", Carwood put in with a wink, "that Winters is a very good and decent man. Everything else she has to find out for herself."

"Thanks, I'll tell her", Lizzie answered, giving him a smile.

"What about you then?", Bill asked her with another grin. "Someone waiting for you back home?"

"No", she replied, shaking her head and sighing. "Seems like I only met assholes so far. The one who promised me undying love before I left for England was amusing himself with some blond in his bed when my transport was postponed for a day."

"Ooooh", Bill hissed sympathetically. "You gave him a piece of your mind, I hope?"

"Yeah, I did", she answered, actually thinking it quite sweet that he was placing himself so firmly on her side. "He didn't break my heart or something, we had only known each other for a few weeks before that. He was probably just seeing me because he knew that I would soon be gone anyway, no major commitment in sight."

"Not every guy is like that", Floyd promised her with trustful eyes, receiving a warning look from Bill that clearly communicated that the other sergeant should back off from what he probably already thought was his territory.

Lizzie smiled at that, but out of fairness had to be honest with them.

"I'm not looking for anything right now, I don't think this is the right place to start something", she told them clearly, watching Bill's face fall slightly. "Maybe this officer of yours is right and we should not let ourselves be off-tracked, but rather focus on the things at hand."

"You heard that, boys?", Carwood spoke up, giving her a smile. "She has more sense than the whole bunch of you, so listen to what she's saying."

Before Lizzie could answer, the door banged open, revealing a rather short man in the same Airborne uniform as the others. His blonde hair was cropped very short and his face was probably the most angular thing she had ever seen.

"Here you are, you lazy dogs", he spat, coming closer, while the five sergeants snapped to their feet and at attention. "When I gave you this evening off, I didn't mean for you to come here and get drunk. This is NOT the behavior I want to see from you."

"Sir", Carwood tried to put in. "We're off-duty and this is the first beer we had in weeks…"

"I don't care!", the other shouted, making Lizzie flinch just from the volume of his voice. "You're the sorriest excuse this army has to offer, you disgust me! You're weekend passes are revoked for the next fourteen days and you're running twelve miles tonight for insubordination!"

"Sir", the others murmured, giving each other some unhappy glances.

"What are you waiting for?", the lieutenant, as Lizzie could see, screamed. "Move, move, move!"

"Tell Winters to come back quickly", Bill whispered to her, before he left the pub with the others at a jog, while the lieutenant held the door open for them and then turned to Lizzie.

"And you", he addressed her in a sharp voice, coming closer. "Go back home, this is no place to be for a woman. Have you no decency?"

Lizzie could smell the alcohol on his breath and inwardly called him a damn hypocrite.

"I do as I please, lieutenant", she replied icily. "Last time I looked you had no authority over me."

"You keep your mouth shut, woman", he told her warningly, approaching her with a raised finger and making her retreat a few steps. Then he turned around and left the pub, while Lizzie sat down again at the table with six half-empty glasses of beer.

At least she slowly understood why Dick and everyone else was getting edgy for him to get back on duty as soon as possible.

-tbc-


	8. Chapter 8

_Hey everyone! Updates are a bit slow to come, I'm sorry for that, but I hardly get to write nowadays. I have tons and tons of things to do at the moment, exams, work and other stuff that practically screams for my attention. Well, just don't be mad if updating becomes slightly irregular, I'm really doing my best here._

_Then another matter concerning the story: I know that a lot of you have asked for a reunion of Dick and Easy. Just be patient for a little longer, there is definitely something in that direction coming up in the next chapter. I really hope this story isn't getting too slow, I know I'm taking my time to develop things. But I can promise you there will soon be more action, so just bear with me, alright?_

_A very heartfelt thanks to my wonderful reviewers, you guys really help me keep my muse awake and scribbling madly... :-) It's so great to see people out there actually reading the story and caring about where this is going, thanks so much for that!_

_**Beth-rodrigues.77 **__(Thank you so much for your wonderful review! So glad to see you love Dick and Lizzie and this romantic little thingy they already have going on... Yeah, they are really cut out for each other. Love to hear that you like Lizzie's character and yeah, Shames is definitely a bastard... But hey, the story needs some bad guy, too. :-))), __**ScarletLeon**__ (Sooo happy to have made you gush! :-))) I totally grinned when I read your review, thanks for that. :-)))), __**ChocAndSnow19 **__(Thanks for that lovely review! Yeah, Shames, he probably won't be very high on the most-likeable-character list, I guess... So cool you liked Dick and Lizzie's interaction, you're absolutely right, they're building their trust and friendship. Hehe, glad you liked her catching him, after all it doesn't have to be the other way round all the time with the man catching the woman... ;-))) Have a lovely day, too! :-)), __**indifferentshell **__(Hey, welcome back and thanks a lot for that lovely review! I can understand that life can get a bit crazy, I hope it's nothing too serious and that everything will calm down for you soon. However, selfish little me was still very delighted to see your review in my mailbox. :-))) I was a bit afraid you had lost interest in the story, now I'm very happy to see you back. I'm so happy you liked the way Dick and Lizzie's relationship progressed, they are slowly getting to know each other. Glad you were interested in Lizzie's background, I tried to keep everything as plausible as possible, but at the same time interesting. Hope I succeeded. ;-) Yeah, poor Easy... I wouldn't want to change place with them. ;-))) But they'll be fine, I promise. :-)) Would really love to hear more from you soon!)_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When Lizzie got back to the ward on Monday morning, the sun was shining in a deep blue November sky. After all these dreary days it felt so good to feel some weak sun rays on her skin again, though hardly warming her against the cold wind that was blowing, but cheering her up nonetheless.

She had actually looked forward to working again, unsuccessfully trying to tell herself that it had nothing to do with seeing Dick again. Thoughts of him had accompanied her over the whole weekend and she had found herself mulling over the new things she had learned from her encounter with his men. She was very sure that she would not tell him about meeting his sergeants and she would also keep quiet about facing his rather sorry excuse for a replacement. After all, Dick did not look like the type to appreciate her snooping around in his life.

When she came into the ward, her gaze instantly went to Dick's bed. He was sitting on the edge of the mattress, Jean kneeling in front of him and tying his shoelaces for him, while Greta stood beside the both of them. As Lizzie came closer, she saw Dick lifting his head, his face lighting up at the sight of her and giving her a brilliant smile. It was the kind of smile that could knock a girl on her ear, and she found herself swallowing heavily. Damn, he really looked good today and yeah, she had missed him.

"Good morning", Dick greeted her, gingerly donning a jacket over his PT gear. "How was your weekend?"

"Good, very good", she answered, watching Jean finish tying his shoelaces, then hesitantly giving him a hand up. "And you're ready for an excursion beyond this familiar halls, I guess?"

"I was told it's beautiful weather outside for once", he answered, accepting Jean's help to stand, then gave Greta a nod. "Dr. Coombs thought that some fresh air would do me good."

"Lizzie", Greta addressed her, giving her a small smile, "would you mind accompanying Lieutenant Winters for a short walk? I need Jean for another job."

The look of surprise on Jean's face told Lizzie everything she needed to know about her scheming friend, but she accepted the offer nonetheless.

"Sure", Lizzie answered, giving Dick a smile. "If you don't mind me accompanying you?"

"No, not at all", he answered happily, slowly starting to walk in the direction of the exit. Lizzie noticed that his movements had greatly improved in the last two days she had not seen him. He could clearly walk unaided now and his steps were much steadier than before. There was still a limp to his gait and he was still hunched over slightly, but he was definitely better.

Lizzie took the lead to hold the door open for him that led outside.

"It really should be the other way around, you know", he quipped, raising one eyebrow while shuffling past her. "Me holding the door open for you."

Smiling and shaking her head to herself, she marveled that men like him still existed. Where did the army find this guy? He really was that old-fashioned gentleman film industry liked so much to show in the movies, materializing in a red headed, long-legged paratrooper officer. Who would have guessed that? And she had not even been able to appreciate it at first glance, perceiving his politeness and modesty as arrogance.

"Maybe I'll let you help me into my coat later, just to still your thirst for gallantry", she answered him, tongue-in-cheek. The smile she received for that warmed her heart and her face. It had taken a few days to coax any smile onto his face, but now that it was there, it hardly wanted to leave again. It suited him, giving him a slightly boyish look.

"Unbelievable, sunshine in England", he commented wryly when he stepped out of the door, blinking lazily in the bright light of day and breathing in the fresh air. "And here I thought Dr. Coombs was only trying to lure me outside."

It seemed like the sun was setting his hair on fire, shining such a brilliant red that it almost hurt her eyes. Lizzie found herself mesmerized by the intensive color. She never would have guessed that she would some day feel attracted to a redhead. It had definitely been ranging at the bottom of favorite hair colors, since all the redheads she knew from earlier on were either nerds or perverts. But there was no doubt he was a handsome man, red hair or not.

"Yeah", she answered dreamily, slightly off-tracked, then pulled herself together when he shot her a questioning look. "Well, the weather _is_ unusually good."

He nodded then gazed to a field some eight hundred feet away where some soldiers were training for a maneuver. It was too far away to tell who it was, but she noticed him watching intently, instinctively drawn in this direction.

"Are you missing your men?", she asked him softly, glancing at him from the side, while they slowly walked on a pebble stone street that led over the base.

"Yeah, I do", he admitted, still focused on the group of soldiers, then tore his gaze away to look at her earnestly. "But it's difficult to explain. Some people have this romantic notion of soldiers training together automatically becoming best friends, but it's much more complicated. As a leader, you need to keep everything personal at arm's length, otherwise it would be impossible to even think about sending these men to war. Distance to them is vital."

She was surprised at his rather detached view on his men, after all the good she had heard about him from all sides. However, it would explain why his sergeants hardly knew anything about him. It still confused her, because he did not strike her as the uncaring type.

As if he had read her mind, he added quietly with a shrug of his shoulders, "They still grow on you, you know. They're human beings, all of them having plans about the future and some of them I like so much that they might have become close friends, if met under different circumstances. It's more difficult with others, but I need to treat them all the same. The ultimate goal is far more important than my personal feelings."

"You had me a bit worried there", she admitted with a smile, thinking she might after all understand him. "But I think I know what you mean. So you never go out on a beer with them?"

"No", he answered, a half-suppressed smile on his lips as if she only knew half of it. "Some officers do, there aren't any rules against it. But let's look at it this way: there is this one soldier you really like and with whom you spend most of your weekends for months. Let's say he's hit in the throat in battle, bleeding out in front of you, and your CO decides there's no time to help him because it might endanger the whole company. How would you react in such a situation? Personally, it would tear me apart, there's no way I could go on after that. But everyone else in the company or platoon is relying on me to make the right decision, there's no time to mourn or even think about personal loss in the middle of battle."

She never had thought of it this way, as a way of self-protection. If she was honest, she had always thought it ridiculous how most of the officers tried to separate themselves from the men, as if they were something better. Maybe there was a logic to that, after all.

"So the point of it is to somehow avoid any emotional attachment to your men?", she asked on, knowing that her question was slightly unfair since she started to understand his point quite well. However, she was still curious about his answer.

"You're giving me a run for my money here", he answered with a sigh and a crooked smile. "What is this, 'Question the officer'?"

Lizzie realized with satisfaction that she had already started to rub off on him, his quips were definitely getting better, which made her chuckle to herself.

"Yeah, something like that", she answered with a grin.

"Alright", Dick replied, giving her a long look and a small shake of his head. "Emotional attachment is crucial for any military unit, but there's a difference between the attachment to the company and the attachment to particular individuals. I'm very much attached to Easy company, so much that there isn't anything more important in my life at the moment. But I try not to get too attached to the single soldiers. They are my responsibility, after all. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, it does", she replied. "Some people might still think of you as a cold-hearted bastard, but I definitely get your reasoning. I'm actually quite happy I'm not in your shoes, I'm not sure I could deal with it."

"Don't get me wrong", he immediately stated, face all serious, "I'm not complaining. This is the most intense experience of my life and it never felt more right to be where I am now. And what I told you now is just the theory of how the relationship between commanding officers and soldiers should be established. Then again, it's much more complicated. In some way, these men are very close to me... closer even than brothers..."

He trailed off, the searching for words making him crease his forehead. Finally, he shook his head, giving up.

"I can't explain", he just said, looking a bit irked.

"It's fine, I think I understand", she softly replied, realizing that this matter meant a lot to him and seeing at the same time that he really tried to let her in on what he felt.

"Yeah?", he asked, a wry grin starting to tug at his lips. "I think I'm just rambling on."

"No problem", she answered with a smile. "I'm used to it. You were already rambling on when I first saw you."

"Thanks very much", he replied, pursing his lips, but his eyes were twinkling good-naturedly.

They were walking for a while in silence. Lizzie sneaked from time to time a glance at him and saw that he was deeply immersed in thinking, eyes bored in the ground in front of him. Was he still thinking of his men? Everyone had told her so far how dedicated he was, but they were probably still understating things. Almost every time she had come to his bed in the ward, he was doing some paper stuff. And if not, he was brooding. Like now.

"There's a pond behind the hospital", she told him, trying to get him to take off his mind of things that had placed a persistent frown on his face. "It's lovely there, only place where you're really alone around here. Sometimes you even see ducks. There's one lucky male duck with two lady ducks, you should see..."

"Dick!", a voice shouted, and when Lizzie looked around she noticed a jeep coming their way on the pebbled street. When they were closer, she could see Lieutenant Nixon behind the wheel and another man beside him in the passenger seat. The car stopped beside them and both men hopped out.

"Good to see you!", the unfamiliar man greeted Dick exuberantly, giving him a tight hug that looked quite funny because of their height difference, the other man being rather short. "I'm only gone for two weeks and you already got yourself in hospital. You couldn't even wait for war!"

Lizzie instantly took a liking to him. He had curly hair and a gapped smile that spoke of mischief. This one definitely was a charmer, she was sure of it.

"Harry", Dick replied slowly, disentangling himself from his friend's hug, but at the same time giving him a relaxed smile. "Good to see you, too. How was advanced training in Bristol?"

"Bored me to tears", the one called Harry answered with a comic grimace. "Good thing Easy is a bit short on experienced officers, this was a welcome excuse to come back earlier."

"Yeah, such luck", Dick replied in a drawn out voice, giving Harry a wry look.

"Aw, come on, I've heard everything from Nix here. Shames can't be that bad", Harry put in, looking at Nixon who desolately shook his head.

"He hasn't met him yet", Nixon sighed to Dick, putting on a show of pitying the optimistic young greenhorn.

"You're exaggerating", Harry decided, looking unsure from Nixon to Dick and back again. Finally his gaze settled on Lizzie, as if he had not noticed her before. "Hello there. Where are my manners? I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Harry Welsh, Second Lieutenant in Easy Company. And who are you?"

Nixon beat her to answering, beginning with a smirk, "A short warning first, Harry, she talks back. Always. Second, she is..."

"Nix", Dick interrupted his friend with a level voice, looking at him sternly.

Lizzie found herself smiling at Dick's reaction in her favor. Was he getting protective of her? As if Lieutenant Casanova could beat her in a verbal sparring match. However, if she was completely honest, she was maybe starting to enjoy the constant banter with Nixon, it had become sort of a ritual for them. If she had ever had an older brother, he surely would have behaved exactly like Nixon.

"I'm Elisabeth Weiss, Second Lieutenant in the ANC", she decided to take matters in her own hand and stretched out a hand for Welsh to shake. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed Dick raising a single eyebrow and she realized that he had probably not known her full name until now. "Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Welsh."

"Aw, come on, no formalities", he answered with a wink and a motion of his hand. "Just Harry."

"Okay", she answered with a smile, "then please just call me Lizzie."

"My, my", Nixon drawled in a voice of mock-surprise. "Are you getting civil here, Florence? You never offered your first name to me."

"That's because you haven't earned yourself the right yet, lieutenant", Lizzie answered right away, eyebrows raised but secretly enjoying herself. "Maybe you shouldn't have skipped all the good-manners courses in officer school."

Harry laughed out loud and she could see Dick biting back a smile at his friend's expense.

"He's a rich kid", Harry supplied, still grinning widely at Lizzie, "they don't realize that not everything can be bought with money."

Why did that information not surprise her? There had always been an air of bigmouthed self-confidence to Nixon that made much more sense now that she knew he came from a wealthy family.

"Well, it bought me an officer's rank alright", Nix stated with a lazy grin, but at the same time his dark eyes suddenly looked a bit vulnerable. Oh, there was a conscience somewhere in him and that show of arrogance could not fully mask some deep set insecurities. It looked like rich kid had some issues, too.

"Don't be silly, Lew", Dick answered in his friend's favor, giving him a fond smile. "They would never have taken you just because of your family's influence. You're a fine officer, you know that, and you fully deserve your commission."

Lizzie noticed the tiny nod the two friends exchanged, before the arrogant grin was back on Nixon's face.

"Always the idealist, our Dick", he drawled, making Dick good-naturedly shake his head to himself.

But Lizzie had seen enough to call everything a well-rehearsed play. The deep friendship between Dick and Nixon was so obvious, they really depended on each other. Dick was the steady support, the moderating influence that kept everything together. Even without seeing him with his men, she could already tell from this talk with his fellow officers that he was gifted with some really precious leadership skills. And Nixon was the one loosening up things, he seemed to be one of the few people that succeeded in the task of making Dick smile.

"So, you're working as a nurse?", Harry asked her, ignoring the banter between Dick and Nixon, probably used to it.

"Yes, it's a very rewarding experience", she explained, then added with a twinkle to Dick, "At least most of the times."

Harry picked up on that, noticing Dick shuffle his feet uneasily.

"Is he being difficult?", Harry asked her with that gapped smile of his.

"You have no idea", she just responded with a sigh, hoping Dick would understand her good-natured teasing.

"I'm not difficult, just determined to get back to duty quickly", Dick replied with raised eyebrows and a frown, but Lizzie knew him well enough by now to notice the small tug upwards on his lips, "And talking of difficult people, you would need to know that Harry isn't exactly all innocence either, no matter what his fluffy curls or sweet-talking tongue might tell you."

This earned him a rather pointed look from Harry, but Dick returned it totally nonplussed. Now Lizzie had to smile at all of them.

"Alright, alright, I get it", she finally said, looking at all three officers. "Isn't it exhausting to uphold this picture of respectability in front of your men?"

"Not for poster boy here", Nixon quipped with a smile, slapping Dick on the back. Lizzie had to chuckle at the apologetic look Dick sent her.

"So", Harry asked after a short pause, looking at Dick, "how's life without an appendix?"

"Getting better daily", Dick replied, suddenly smiling at Lizzie. "They're really good in the military hospital, they're helping me recover quickly."

"They, huh?", Harry answered meaningfully and looking at Lizzie with new eyes.

"Yeah, they", Dick confirmed, not letting himself be goaded by his friend. Although Lizzie was quite glad that he valued their work after all, she felt a slight twinge of disappointment that he had not singled her out. But then again, why should he? They were on friendly terms by now, this had to be enough for her.

Nixon looked at his watch, then motioned with his head for Harry to get back into the car, "We have to go, Sink won't be waiting."

"Yeah", Harry acknowledged, giving Dick a last pat on the back and Lizzie a grin before getting back in the car. "We'll see you around."

Dick watched them driving away, then gave Lizzie a wry look.

"They can be quite a handful sometimes", he told her as if to apologize for his friends' behavior. "But they're good and loyal men."

"I can see that", Lizzie replied with a nod. "I like them, you know. Even Lieutenant Nixon, when he's not flaunting the arrogant playboy."

Dick chuckled at that.

"Don't tell him I said this", he said smilingly, "but he's a bit put out it doesn't work with you. You woke his competitive streak, you know."

This made her laugh and shake her head.

"It won't ever work with me."

As they slowly walked on, white clouds were flitting over the blue sky, hurrying to mask the sun again. When Lizzie looked up, she saw one particular dark cloud coming their way. The cool wind had picked up force and she could see Dick snuggling his arms closely to his body in an attempt to stave off the chill.

"Let's go back", she suggested, receiving a nod from him.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next few days passed quite quickly, Dick surprisingly noticed.

Recovery was easier now that he was allowed out of bed on his own, it gave him back some much desired independence. The infection had receded almost completely, the twinges of pain he felt every now and then came more from the long surgery wound than from inflamed tissue by now. Even eating became less trying and he was allowed some solid food again, which was good, because he was fed up with eating chicken soup every day. He had received another visit from Lipton, telling him that things had got slightly better since Harry was back with Easy, which had relieved Dick endlessly.

All of these positive developments could not veil the real reason for his good mood as of late. Lizzie was with him every day for several hours. It had become sort of a ritual for her to stay with him even after her shift had ended, keeping him company in the evenings. These evenings were the time Dick had increasingly started to look forward to. No more doctors or visitors, it was just him and Lizzie. Most of the time they spent just talking, although he had to suffer through some more horror stories as well. But it did not matter, she was so happy when she could read these stories to him that he made an effort to find something good in them for himself.

However, his stay in hospital was slowly coming to an end, it had almost been three weeks since his surgery. His discharge had been settled for tomorrow and Dick was feeling very glad to be finally released, but at the same time it made him also slightly sad. These light hours with Lizzie were definitely coming to an end. Of course he had to come back for check-ups for several weeks and they had already talked about staying in contact, but this would not be the same. As soon as the army had him back, his time would be limited.

Therefore Dick found it quite strange that Lizzie had not shown up yet today. Normally she had visited him by noon, but it was late afternoon now. He was quite sure she would have told him if it had been her day off, since she knew he would be discharged tomorrow. By now he had almost everything ready for his release. He had spent the whole afternoon revising the paperwork he had done in the last few days, and everything was now neatly stacked and sorted on his nightstand.

It was Jean who brought him a light meal in the evening, making him even more suspicious of Lizzies's absence. Dr. Coombs, the husband, had been the one taking care of him today, which had been the reason he had decided against asking about Lizzie. If it had been his wife, then Dick probably would not have been able to hold himself back from asking about her.

"Jean?", he asked the young nurse when she set the food down on his nightstand, "Do you know anything about the whereabouts of Lizzie? She hasn't showed up yet today."

"I don't know, sir", she replied softly, even after all these weeks refusing to call him by his first name. "She didn't come to work today."

"Was she in your room?", he worriedly asked on, knowing that the two of them shared accommodation.

"She was there yesterday evening, but she left before I got up this morning", Jean replied hesitantly, as always evading his gaze shyly. "But that's normal, she's always up earlier than me, sir."

"So she never got here?", he inquired. This was getting stranger by the minute.

"I'm not sure... I'm sorry, sir", she answered with big eyes.

"It's fine", he reassured her. "It's not your fault after all."

Jean left him and Dick ate alone in a brooding silence. Where could she be? And what had happened? It was not like someone just went missing on a military base. Since he did not feel hungry, he shoved the half finished dish away from him and got up. If she did not come for him, then he had to start looking for her. Maybe her friend the doctor knew something about Lizzie's whereabouts. Dick knew the doctor had some kind of office on the first floor of the hospital, she had heard Lizzie talking about the ugliness of that room just a day prior.

Walking through the ward, Dick noticed the newly arrived patients, one of them a young man that seemed faintly familiar, probably a soldier from one of the other Airborne companies. He gave him a nod, but did not stop to talk with him but walked on. To reach the first floor, Dick had to step outside and take the stairs at the facade of the building. Climbing the stairs, he felt his side acting up at the pull of muscles and he had to be content to take one step at a time. He reached the first floor and slowly walked down the corridor. At least the different offices and storage rooms were marked on the doors.

At last he reached an office that had "Dr. Coombs" written on it. He hoped that it belonged to Greta Coombs, knocked and entered before being called in. The sight that greeted him had him stop dead in his tracks. Lizzie was there, enveloped in a tight hug by Dr. Coombs, the wife. Lizzie looked up like a deer caught in the headlights and Dick realized at once that she had been crying. Her eyes were all red and puffy, her face pale and her hair a mess. Before he could say anything, Lizzie had wordlessly torn herself from her friend's embrace and was rushing past him. First he just watched her leave, too stunned to move, then he went after her, following more an instinct than a rational thought.

"Lieutenant Winters, just let her go", Dr. Coombs called after him, but he ignored her.

Lizzie was pounding down the stairs in front of him, reaching the ground and disappearing behind the barracks.

"Lizzie!", he shouted after her, but he was not even sure she could hear him anymore.

She had rushed down the steps in the span of a moment, but it took him much longer. He gritted his teeth against the pull of stitches in his side and he had to tell himself to be reasonable and slow down. After what seemed like ages, he reached the bottom and went the same way around the barracks as she had taken before.

However, when he turned around the corner, there was no sign of her. Muttering to himself, Dick came to a halt, a hand pressed firmly against his by now throbbing side. There was no chance he could keep up with her, if she wanted to run away from him, then he could do nothing to stop her.

Just before he wanted to give up and return to the ward, he paused. But... what if she had not run all that far? Only a few days ago she had told him about the pond behind the hospital, which she had called the only place to be alone on the base. He decided to check there before returning to the hospital.

Slowly walking around the barracks, the pond came into view. It was not exactly a beautiful thing with trees around it like in some English garden. Instead it was rather plain, completely round, obviously created artificially and most probably serving as a water supply in case of a fire. There were two or three meager bushes on one side of the pond that seemed to be there to make the place more charming, but in Dick's opinion it only completed the picture of sadness. Behind one of these bushes he could make out blue cloth.

Coming closer he finally saw Lizzie, sitting at the edge of the pond and chucking stones in the water from time to time. Her face was wet, but she was not crying anymore, instead her brows were drawn together in a mask of anger.

"Hey", Dick called out to her, not wanting to scare her by his approach.

She snapped her head up, scowling at him.

"Go away, Dick", she ground out, chucking another stone in the pond, making the ducks in it scuttle to the other side of the water. "Maybe I haven't been clear enough before: I want to be alone."

"Could you at least tell me what this is all about?", he asked her gently, coming to a halt a few paces away from her. She had another stone in her hand and he was a bit afraid she would throw it at him if he came any closer, judging from the fierce look on her face.

"I'm not one of your soldiers, you don't need to feel responsible for me", she answered darkly, staring at the ground in front of her feet.

"I know, but I thought we were friends", he replied, seeing her sniffling and wiping at her face. She was very upset, he could tell, but it was quite hard to say if she was angry or sad. Probably both.

"As if that means anything to you", she hissed at him, blindly lashing out at the first person at hand. "You're itching to get out of hospital, so go, you're almost there. Tomorrow is your big day then I won't ever hear anything from you again. I know your kind, as soon as you're back on your feet again, you'll forget everything that had been before. You won't even think about me or what I feel, because _you don't care_, Dick."

He was so stunned by her words that he forgot to breathe for a moment. Had he missed something? It was not like her to accuse him of things that just were not true. He cared about her, more than he wanted to.

"Is this about us?", he asked her hesitantly, not understanding a word she said. "Because I do care, Lizzie. Our friendship isn't something I'll just discard."

"You say that now, but then you'll leave me all the same, getting yourself killed", she spat scathingly.

Where would she suddenly get this notion from? Dick was at a loss of what to say or do. She was completely irrational and he had no idea why she said such things.

She reached again for a stone, turning away from him, and he suddenly noticed a letter lying on the ground beside her. He could see an eagle on the front of it, not the American, but the German '_Reichsadler'_. All of a sudden everything made more sense. This was not at all about them.

"This is about your brother", he slowly said, coming a few steps closer. The anguished look she gave him and the new tears in her eyes told him that he was spot on. He gingerly sat down beside her, looking at the letter. "May I read it?"

She just nodded, fighting tears and looking away while he scanned the pages. He could not decipher much, since it was written both in Gothic print and in German, but he could make out a name: Johann Weiss. And he knew what it meant. This was a death notice from the German Army.

"I'm very sorry", he murmured to her, trying to reach for her hand, but she pulled it away before he could touch her.

"They dare writing this crap to me!", she forced out, tearing the letter out of his hands and throwing it into the pond. "Who do they even think they are, writing of heroic death and blood loyalty?"

She was shaking with fury and Dick told himself to keep quiet. She wanted and needed to be angry now, he understood that much. All that was left, after the rage had gone, was pain. And she was desperately struggling against accepting that.

"They are twisting and killing children for their sick ideas", she continued, wringing her white hands. "And for what? A slaughter for a demonstration of the dominance of the '_Herrenrasse_'? They'll be losing this war and they'll all regret what they've done for decades and centuries to come!"

Lizzie wiped her nose with a rough movement of her hand, pursing her lips into a thin line. Dick heard her taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, but it was getting her nowhere. When he looked at her, he could see her biting her lips and swallowing madly. The despair in her eyes almost broke his heart.

"He deserved to die", she forced out bitterly, tears now streaming down her face. "It's good he's dead, at least his shame can be forgotten now."

Dick had to let her know that she was not alone, that he was there and that he cared. Very slowly he drew her to his chest, slinging an arm around her shoulders. First she tried to fight him, but then she let it happen, starting to sob against him. Her soft hair tickled against his chin and he gently stroked her back, making her cry even harder and clinging to him with a force he had not known she possessed. Feeling her quaking body against his chest and hearing her sob made it hard for him to reign in his own emotions. Swallowing heavily a few times, he just let her rest against him, no words coming to him that might have softened the blow fortune had dealt her.

He could not have said how long they were staying like this. Her sobs eventually quietened down, but she made no move to disentangle herself from him and he was not yet ready to let her go either. Her breath was warm against his throat, slowly becoming calmer.

After some more minutes she finally drew away from him with a sigh.

"I cried all over your sweater", she said in a voice that was stuffy with tears, giving him the tiniest of smiles with eyes shrouded in sadness.

"Don't you worry about that", he replied gently, sweeping an errand strand of hair out of her face and giving her the only handkerchief he kept on him.

"Thanks", she muttered meekly, blowing her nose. Dick had to fight down the sudden urge to hold her tight again and to keep her close to his chest forever, defying everyone that dared to hurt her again.

They sat together in silence, Lizzie leaning against Dick's shoulder, one of his arms still loosely slung around her. A steady drizzle hat set in, but none of them made a move to get up.

"Joe chose to have me informed in case of his death, not my father", she said softly after a time, her voice now level. "He was killed somewhere on the rivers of the Dnieper, fighting against the Soviet Army. He just turned twenty this summer."

"I'm very sorry to hear that", Dick replied, giving her a heartfelt nod of support.

"Thanks", she answered to that, smiling sadly. "He was such a funny little midget when we were kids. He was always annoying me with his stupid rhymes that he had made up just to aggravate me. But then he got older and stronger. I hardly realized he was growing up so fast until he was defending me against some brash jerk that wanted to make a move on me in school. When my mom still lived we spent the summer at the sea, going for a swim in about every weather..."

Her voice trailed off, leaving her smiling tearfully at Dick.

"Try to remember him that way", he told her softly, giving her another squeeze with his arm around her shoulder.

"I try, but it's so hard with everything that has happened since then", she replied quietly. "And now it's so definite, with his death. No chance to right that wrong."

He nodded understandingly at that, not knowing what to say in return. Of course she was right. This was not something you could just put behind you, it would take time to heal.

"Maybe it was my father's fault after all", she said in a low voice, snuffling. "He should've put all this Kraut stuff behind in Europe, not telling us the whole time about it."

"Don't say that", he decided to disagree, but only very gently, giving her a nudge with his shoulder. "It's part of who you are, part of your heritage. You told me yourself that your father never sympathized with any Nazi ideas, but put himself firmly against them. Don't let your brother ruin your identity with what he did. You turned out just fine."

That earned him a small smile.

"Thanks", she replied softly, watching the letter that had floated on the water slowly sink to the bottom of the pond. "I need to write my father. He probably doesn't know yet."

"Yes, that won't be easy", he acknowledged.

The steady drizzle was slowly drenching their clothes. None of them had bothered to put on a jacket before going outside and Dick could feel Lizzie starting to shiver beside him. He slowly got to his feet, feeling his side tweak a bit in discomfort, but held out a hand for her nonetheless.

"It should be the other way around, you know", she repeated his words with another tiny smile, but took his hand all the same. However, her smile was a delicate thing, she still looked on the verge of tears.

"Yeah, but maybe I'll later let you help me back into bed, just to still your thirst for helping people", he replied with a gentle smile of his own, making her snort softly, the sound somewhere between a laugh and a suppressed sob.

"Will you be alright?", he asked her when they slowly walked back to the hospital.

"Yes", she answered after some thinking, wiping her eyes dry with her sleeve. "Thanks, Dick. For everything."

It was said with such a heartfelt emphasis that he drew her close again with one arm, pressing a kiss on her hair before he knew what he was doing. Dick could not say who was more surprised, he or Lizzie. But she made no move to draw away from him, instead snuggling closer to his side. They stayed like that until the entrance of the hospital came into view, then slowly separated themselves from each other.

"Take care of yourself", he told her softly. "You should give yourself some time to come to terms with everything."

"No", she disagreed slowly, looking at her hands. "I need work now to keep my mind off constantly thinking about my brother's death."

Dick was not sure that was the right way to deal with her grief, but it was not his place to say so.

"Will I see you tomorrow?", he asked her instead.

"Yeah, I'll be there", she promised, giving him a last nod, then disappearing in the nurses' barracks.

-tbc-


	9. Chapter 9

_Thanks to the best reviewers ever, __**beth-rodrigues.77**__ (Thanks so much for your review, sooo happy to hear you think this story rewarding to read! Yeah, last chapter was a very sad one for Lizzie, and I'm feeling glad to know you thought it touching, I was struggling a bit with the emotional parts of it. And yes, Dick tries his best to console her, I think seeing her cry was hard for him, too. Thanks so much for reviewing, I always look forward to your comments!), __**ScarlettLeon**__ (So glad I had you blubbering again... :-))) And yeah, I know how that feels, too, to cry into someone else's sweater, so I latched on my own memories there. Had a nice guy to lean on as well back then... ;-)), __**ChocAndSnow19**__ (I very much enjoyed to hear you were moved by this chapter, I put quite a bit of effort and my own emotions into it. ;-) Yeah, Dick is there for Lizzie, I think he's the best support you can get in such a difficult situation. And of course he's a gentleman, he's Dick Winters and all good manners! :-))) And I'm sooo happy to see you enjoy reading this story, and you don't think it too slow. I was a bit worried because I realized I took my time in developing things, maybe a bit too much. Thanks very much for your support! :-))), __**Jayden **__(Hey, welcome back! I was a bit worried I had lost you on the way, glad you're back. :-)) Yeah, Dick is finally getting out of hospital in this chapter. ;-)). _

_Here we go with chapter nine, hope you all enjoy! If you want to make my day, then leave me a review, since I love to hear what you think about it. And I'm always open for criticism, too._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Alright, everything fine", Dr. Paul Coombs declared, with his wife looking over his shoulder. "You're ready to be discharged, Lieutenant Winters."

The last examination had just confirmed what they had settled a few days ago. Dick was finally ready to leave the hospital.

"Very good", he answered, rolling down his sweater over a light bandage that covered the suture. He looked up to see Lizzie giving him an encouraging smile from where she stood behind the two doctors. Her face was pale and her eyes red, she had probably slept badly last night. But she was there and working, doing her best to appear as if nothing had happened.

"We are proceeding as follows", Dr. Coombs, the husband, continued in his monotonous voice, speaking more to the clipboard in his hands than to Dick, "you're coming back for a check-up every three days until the stitches come out in a week. No heavy lifting, no running or other strenuous activities for the next three weeks, after that you can slowly begin light training again. That's also when you'll be able to return to light duty."

Dick nodded, showing that he had heard the doctor, but in his head arranging for himself quite a different plan already. He really could not see why he should not be allowed to do some light work by now, sitting behind a desk could hardly be considered a strenuous activity.

"Paul, this isn't the right way to deal with this patient", Dr. Greta Coombs put in with raised eyebrows, looking intently at Dick and most likely seeing right through him. "Lieutenant Winters, I want your word on staying away from both light duty and bodily activities for the next three weeks. As far as I know you'll be rolling in the dirt with your men by tomorrow otherwise."

Dick could hear Lizzie snort at that. What was the meaning of this now, some last effort of cuddling? He almost had his freedom back and now they tried to restrict it again.

"I'll be careful not to overdo it, I promise", he replied slowly, pursing his lips.

"That's not the promise I wanted to hear", the female doctor replied, giving him a knowing glance.

"Well, I can't give you my word on not going against your orders. Doing my duty might be more important", he finally admitted with a frown.

"Well, then maybe it might be _my_ duty to refuse that signature under your release papers", Dr. Coombs, the wife, replied pointedly.

Dick found himself glaring at the doctor. Come on, why did this have to be so difficult now? He would leave the hospital today, signature or not. It was not as if they could tie him down.

"It's alright, Greta", Lizzie piped in, of all possible persons, giving Dick an encouraging nod. "Just give him the signature. He's an adult and he knows the risks. If he still decides to go against your recommendations then he's either stupid or acting out of reasons unknown to us."

Dick had no idea where her sudden support came from, even less so what that last comment was supposed to mean, but he could not be picky of his allies at the moment. Giving her a smile of thanks, he looked questioningly at the doctor, crossing his arms.

"Fine", Dr. Coombs finally relented, sighing softly and motioning for her husband to sign the release papers. "Just try to take it easy, at least until the stitches are out, alright?"

"I'll do my best", Dick promised with a small smile, making the doctor raise her eyebrows again. He got up from the bed, stooping down to get his bag, but his hand was swatted away by Lizzie.

"Maybe you should have your ears checked, they said no heavy lifting", she reminded him, shaking her head and taking the bag in her own hands.

"It's not heavy", he complained half-heartedly, making Lizzie and Dr. Coombs sigh in unison.

Luckily it was Nix saving him from further chastisement, joining their circle.

"Are you ready?", he asked Dick. "The Barnes can't wait to have you back, asked me since the morning when you'd be out of here."

"Yeah, I'm ready", Dick answered quickly, wanting to be away before anyone changed their mind to keep him for a few days longer.

"Thanks very much for everything", he told the two doctors, shaking their hands and at last receiving a reconciliatory smile from Dr. Coombs, the wife.

"You're welcome" she replied. "We'll see each other in three days."

Dick nodded, then turned to Lizzie, who was standing there with his bag in her hands, looking a bit lost.

"I'll walk you to the car", she said before he could open his mouth.

Dick nodded, then addressed Nix, "Could you take my bag from her, it's _very_ heavy."

His friend raised an eyebrow at that, but took the bag nonetheless, while Lizzie rolled her eyes at Dick. At the same time, some of the old twinkle returned to her hooded eyes, Dick noticed happily. When they reached the car, they put in the bag, then an uneasy silence followed since no one really knew what to say. The situation was awkward for Dick, feeling Nix's watchful eyes on him, but wanting to say a proper goodbye to Lizzie all the same. Even more so because she appeared so frail today, with grief laying heavily on her shoulders.

"What are you waiting for?", Lizzie finally prompted, motioning for him to get into the car. "I've got work to do, you know."

Her cheerfulness sounded forced to his ears, but he knew by now that it was how she dealt with difficult situations. The wisecrack was part of her armor, she seemed to hide behind it whenever things got rough.

"Thanks for everything", Dick finally said, looking deeply into her eyes and giving her a smile. "I would have probably driven everyone insane if it hadn't been for you."

"You still did", she snickered, but at the same time her eyes started shimmering treacherously.

"Come here", he told her, pulling her into his arms and giving her a tight hug. The way her body snuggled against his felt very nice, his heart rate going up a notch. The scent of lavender wafted to his nose, he had never noticed her hair smelling so good before. He heard her sigh softly, then she disentangled herself from him, inconspicuously wiping at her eyes.

"Alright, it's not like this is goodbye forever, so you won't mind me cutting this short", she said hurriedly, already retreating a few steps towards the hospital and giving both of them a wavering smile. "Take care and see you soon."

With that she turned around and scurried back inside. Nix kept quiet, just giving Dick a long look, then holding the door open for his friend. They drove for a while in silence, Dick just watching the landscape flitting past him on their way to their billet, thinking of everything and nothing at the same time.

"Oh Dick", Nix finally said, watching him from the side. "Never would have guessed to see this happening to you."

"And what, please enlighten me, should 'this' be?", Dick asked back, puzzled by the serious tone of voice and the vague comment.

"Falling in love", Nix replied earnestly und unsmilingly, giving him another long look.

Dick found himself sputtering at that, sure he had misheard.

"Are you joking?", he asked, for once the one trying to make light of a situation, but seeing that his friend was serious. "I'm not falling in love. Where would you get that notion from?"

"Dick", Nix said slowly. "It's obvious, really. You and Lizzie. The two of you meeting every day, the two of you almost devouring each other with looks, the two of you hugging..."

"It's not like that, Lew", Dick tried to explain. "She lost her brother a few days ago, life is hard on her at the moment. She needed a friend."

"I don't know whom you're trying to fool", Nix answered in a level voice. "Probably only yourself. But that girl has fallen head over heels for you. And if you don't see it or don't want to see it that way, then maybe it's time to open your eyes."

Dick would never have guessed he would one day be on the receiving end of some love talk from Nix. It was rather disconcerting. He had been so busy in the last few days to push out of his mind just any thoughts that had something to do with what he felt towards Lizzie, that he was surprised how fast everything caught up with him. He liked her, but he had always told himself he liked her as a friend. At the same time, this notion somehow rang wrong. Her presence tended to leave him slightly giddy and touching her was the most exquisite thing, causing his heart rate to pick up the pace. She had a beautiful smile, he loved to see her dimples, and her hands... He had to forbid himself thinking about what these soft, white hands would feel like on his bare skin. Even now he felt heat cursing through his body and he wrestled his thoughts back into the present, noticing Nix giving him an intent look and tsking his tongue.

"Dick, you're totally smitten, just admit it", his friend told him with a faint grin.

Dick's first urge was to deny everything and carry on playing clueless, but just as Nix had pointed out, whom did he want to fool, his friend or himself? Maybe he just needed to accept what he had come to realize inwardly as the truth for a few days.

"It doesn't matter what she feels or what I feel", he finally decided to say. "It's not as if it would lead anywhere."

"What about you staying together, marrying and living happily ever after?", Nix threw in, now with the familiar portion of irony.

"Yeah, right", Dick replied, at last feeling that they were returning to safer grounds. He could handle Nix's sarcasm, but he was not used to his friend meddling in any affairs concerning his heart. "With war coming at us and Easy in inept hands? I think I'm content with trying to fulfill the 'living' part of your saying."

"So, this means you won't allow yourself to fall in love?", Nix inquired, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah", Dick answered, trying to make it sound convincing, if only for his own sake. "Besides, I'm not sure Regiment would approve."

"Regiment?", Nix asked, disbelievingly. "You know what? Fuck Regiment. They're not the ones getting their heads blown off. We are. They'll be keeping their wrinkled asses safely behind the lines, watching us get killed. After the war they'll return to fuck their fat wives and live on their shabby lives for another ten years before they kick the bucket because of old age. We don't have this option, our chances to survive aren't that high. So do what you want to do now, because you'll maybe not have the chance to do it later."

His friend's rant took Dick aback. It had become something like an unwritten law for them, talking about the things they wanted to do after the war, evading any thoughts of losing their lives in battle. This did not mean that Dick was naive about the possibility of him getting killed in the following one or two years. That thought scared him as much as it did the next best man in Easy.

"Okay, I see your point", Dick admitted after a short silence, but frowned at his friend nonetheless. "At the same time your argumentation is selfish. What about her? You don't have any qualms about leaving behind not only your wife and kid back home, but also that little singer from London you hang around with lately, to worry about your survival. I don't want my girl having to check death rolls. I want to go to battle with no other attachment than family, for her sake and for my own."

"Yeah Dick, but not everyone is as detached as you in the face of war and carnage", Nix replied scornfully, making Dick understand that he had hit a sore spot. "We all know you're totally in control, always, even of your heart as it seems. Some of us actually have feelings and crave for human touch, you know." Then as an afterthought, he added bitingly, "I can see why they call you 'Red Machine'."

"'Red Machine'?", Dick spluttered, not knowing where that came from. "Who calls me that?"

"Your men", Nix answered, giving him another sidelong glance. "Behind your back."

Was that really how his men perceived him? Dick was at a loss what to say. It was not as if he experienced no emotions towards the men, quite the contrary. He had struggled so hard to keep his feelings at bay whenever it came to his men. Keeping the necessary distance to them did not come easy to him, he was always straining to keep personal sentiments at an arm's length in order to stay rational and professional. He had been a private before becoming an officer, he could feel with them on every layer. In many ways he was a 'half-breed', sensing a stronger connection to his soldiers and their way of living than to many of his fellow officers. And this was what they thought of him? A machine, just functioning, without any human emotions or anxieties?

"Well", Nix began more softly, sounding a bit worried about the prolonged silence and giving Dick a quick glance. "I'm sure they don't mean it all negatively. Your work is impeccable, no hesitation, no blundering. They know they can rely on you."

"Yeah, sure", Dick replied slowly, still not knowing what to make of his nickname. He would need to mull this over in quiet later. "How do you know about it?"

"Are you serious?", Nix asked, now back to his cocky self. "I'm the intelligence officer here, I have my ways of knowing things."

"Yeah, right, how silly of me to forget that", Dick replied, quirking a smile at his friend.

Nix grinned back at him, their previous short clash of opinions already forgotten.

They drove another minute or two in silence, before his friend spoke up again, "But about Lizzie, you need to know that you'll probably never meet another girl like her again. She's special, she's beautiful and she makes you happy. You're a grinning fool whenever she's around, for Christ sake! You might not get another chance at happiness. And she might yet prove your source of strength for the time to come."

Dick was surprised to hear his friend speak so highly of Lizzie, after hearing them bickering every time they saw each other. Well, yeah, Nix had a point, she truly made him happy, there was no sense in denying that.

"I'll think about everything", Dick just answered shortly, for their billet came into view and he was not in the mood to continue the conversation. Nix pulled into the courtyard and parked their car behind the house. It was an old brick house, the ground floor harbored a small store and the upper stories were the living area of the family they were quartered with.

As soon as Dick got out of the car, the house door already opened and the older English couple they were staying with stepped out to welcome him. Dick felt himself smiling when he saw them. They were wonderful people, very decent and affectionate, treating him for all the world like a son and not like a foreign soldier.

"My dear boy", Mrs. Barnes exclaimed softly, her eyes almost disappearing in the laugh lines on her face with the warm smile she was giving him. "It's so good to see you back on your feet."

She came closer and Dick almost expected her to tweak his cheeks, although she was such a small woman he was not sure she would be able to even reach his cheeks.

"It's good to see you, too, Mrs. Barnes", he told her warmly, feeling a bit like coming home, even though he had only stayed with them for something over a month before falling ill.

"Glad to have you back, son", Mr. Barnes commented, a cigar in his mouth while he shook Dick's hand. He had a firm grip, despite his age, and Dick noticed again that it was the hand of a man used to working his whole life.

"Diiick!", he was finally welcomed by a young girl, ten years old, that came running at him from the house. She looked like she wanted to throw herself in Dick's arms, but then stopped at the last possible moment, just standing there and grinning at him. Dick could not hold himself back from messing up her curly blond hair, making her giggle and trying to swat away his hand.

"How are you doing, Elaine?", he asked her, smiling down at her. The little orphan girl the Barnes had taken in was their whole joy, after the death of their only son more than a year ago in one of the many battles England had already fought against Hitler's troops.

"Fine", she replied happily, then gave Nix a cocky grin. "But Lewis still occupies my room."

"Aw, come on", Nix replied, raising his hands in a gesture of innocence, but his dark eyes twinkled with amusement. "You're just a midget, you fit better in that cupboard than me."

"I'm not a midget", she objected, giving her best pout, making Dick laugh.

"You are", Nix answered, unable to hold himself from adding childishly, "Midget."

While Nix and Elaine engaged in a mock fight, Mrs. Barnes gave Dick a long look, scrutinizing him from head to toe.

"Oh dear, you're nothing but skin and bones", she tutted, making Dick hide a small smile at her motherly attitude towards him. "Didn't they feed you in hospital? You didn't have all that much substance on you to begin with, now you look like the next gust of wind might knock you off your feet."

"It's fine, Mrs. Barnes", he told her, feeling like he had to come to the hospital's defense. "They took very good care of me, but the appetite is a bit slow to return."

"We'll work on putting a few more pounds on that bony rips of yours", she promised with a mask of determination, making it clear for Dick that fattening him up was now her ultimate goal. Resistance would be pointless. "Dinner will be ready in an hour."

Dick was a bit worried about the amount of food that he would find on his plate, since the Barnes had never been niggard with the portions they served.

"Go on, take a nap until dinner is finished", she shooed him inside, then cut him off when he wanted to say something, "And no, you can't help me with anything. Go and get some rest."

"Thank you, Mrs. Barnes", Dick then opted to reply, seeing that she would not tolerate any defiance. He exchanged a small smile with Nix, then slowly climbed the stairs to do exactly like he was told to do.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dick managed to spend one full day resting after coming back from hospital. He had found a copy of _The History of the Peloponnesian War_ by Thucydides in the Barnes' bookshelf, from which he had already read excerpts in officer school and he now found the time to study the book more closely. It was not actually what one would call a pleasure read, but he found himself intrigued with the warfare of the Greeks two and a half thousand years ago and the very enlightening views of Thucydides on the relationship between politics and military. Since college, he had a great interest in all things concerning classical antiquity, it was stunning to see how up to date most of these texts still were and how clear the minds of these classical authors – especially the Greek – worked.

Beside reading, he found himself thinking about Lizzie frequently, often in the evenings, which had been their shared time in hospital. He really hoped she was coping with her brother's death, even though he knew deep down that she was strong and that she would eventually get past her grief. Nonetheless, he had been on the verge once or twice to ask Nix to drive him to her and make sure himself she was fine. But he was still confused about what he should feel or do when it came to Lizzie. Maybe some space would do them good until he knew what he wanted. Nix's point of view had not left him fully unaffected.

He had also found himself on the receiving end of some more pampering from Mrs. Barnes. Just as he had suspected, the portions of food he was served were enormous, making him not only struggle to clear his plate, but also feeling the twinge of his conscience, since the shortage of food was overall present in every part of England. Dick knew that the family was not exactly rich and they were not even bound by any engagement to provide food for them, after all Nix and he normally ate at the base. But since the Barnes were against Dick having to drive to the base and back again, they insisted on him eating with them. At the same time, he would have liked to contribute at least something, but when he had offered to pay for the food, he had mortally insulted the Barnes. He had needed the rest of the evening to get back on friendly terms with them.

Nevertheless, despite having everything he needed at hand and being able to spend some time with Elaine, playing chess with the little girl, he was getting restless, itching to see his men again. Two days after coming home, Dick was able to convince the Barnes to let him go back to the base for a film evening, but only after he had eaten dinner with them.

Dressing for the first time in weeks in his uniform was a wonderful feeling, although he realized with some alarm how right his surrogate mother had been when pointing out his thinness, his clothes were sagging on his frame. It was not the weight loss in itself that bothered him, but he had to come to terms with the fact that he had lost quite some muscle. There were days and weeks of sweat and soreness waiting for him until he would be back in his former shape.

Just before they were leaving, Mrs. Barnes remembered Dick for the umpteenth time not to come back too late, because he needed his sleep and so on, leaving Nix to smirk to himself the whole time. Dick found himself releasing a deep breath when he finally stepped out of the house with his friend at his side.

"I don't want to imagine the day when we actually have to go to war", Nix commented with another smirk while he got in the driver's seat of the car. "They'll probably tie you up in the cellar in order to prevent you from going."

"Yeah, don't mention it", Dick replied dryly, but nonetheless could not hold back the fond smile at the warmth he was receiving from the Barnes.

"We're already late, I think we'll miss the beginning of the film", Nix said, drawing his gaze away from the road and looking at his watch. "But you've seen _Manpower _before, I guess?"

"Yeah, at least twice in Toccoa", Dick replied, smiling at the memory.

They reached the base and Dick felt again a bit like coming home. It had only been something over three weeks, but it felt much longer since he had last set foot on the ground of the training camp. Just as Nix had predicted, the film had already started and they slipped into the darkened tent unnoticed. Seeing his Easy again, although it was only the back of their heads, brought a smile onto Dick's lips. God, he had really missed the boys. Nix tapped his arm and motioned for two free seats in the very back row, beside Harry.

"Hey, good to see you back", Harry commented in not so low a voice when Dick and Nix sat down next to him, already provoking some shushing from the rows in front of him that he ignored. "How're you doing?"

"Fine", Dick whispered, considerate of the men wanting to watch the film. "You?"

"Just great", Harry answered right away, flashing him a big grin. "I don't think I told you already, I met this girl in Bristol…"

There was some more shushing from the men, one of them – Joe Toye as Dick could see - half-turning his head warningly without really looking over his shoulder.

"What, Toye?", Harry asked loudly, voice good-natured, but challenging all the same. "I'm your officer, do you want to tell me off for talking? Are you put out 'cause you can't hear Marlene?"

Some grumbling was the only answer he received, and with a satisfied grin he turned to Dick again, who raised an eyebrow at his friend's handling of the situation.

"Her name is Kitty Grogan", Harry continued unperturbed. "A true Irish girl, I heard her singing at the bar she works, she has a wonderful voice. Hair blond like wheat, green eyes, and full, round…"

Now Toye, who had never been one to back down from an argument, seemed to have enough and turned around angrily.

"Sir, why don't you just go now and marry your gal, then at least we could watch the film in peace from…", Toye groused, then suddenly trailed off as he noticed Dick sitting beside Harry.

"Lieutenant Winters", he exclaimed in surprise, film forgotten and his own voice suddenly loud, too, causing a few heads to turn. "You're back!"

"Well, not really", Dick answered quickly, trying to tone down the hopes of him coming back right away, since he could already hear the murmuring of voices and more turning of heads in his direction. It seemed like the news of his presence spread like a wildfire through the whole tent. "Just trying to watch the movie, but that seems a bit difficult today."

Toye flashed him a grin, maybe not having heard the first part of what Dick had said, then turned to whisper something to his neighbor. The rest of the movie passed without any interruption, but as soon as the lights were turned on, Dick found himself swarmed by his men, sitting on the chairs or standing in between the rows in front of him.

"Rumor's true then, sir", he was welcomed by Luz, always the first to open his big mouth, "you're back from the dead. Looking better than last time we saw you."

"Yeah", Dick answered, finding himself grinning at the circle of Easy men around him. "Which isn't too difficult to manage, I guess."

"They put you back together alright, sir", Bull commented with a nod, smiling around the cigar in his mouth.

"Are the nurses pretty at the military hospital?", Perconte asked innocently, triggering some laughter.

Ignoring Nix's secretive smile, Dick decided to take it in stride, answering, "Depends on what you're looking for, Frank. There was a nurse twice as big as you with the temperament of a steam roller."

There was more laughter at that, some of the men slapping Perconte on his back. Dick looked through the rows of men standing in front of him, trying to give every one of them a smile. He noticed quite a few of them looking tired, some even looking gaunt since last time he had seen them.

"How was your return play in basketball against Able? You took them out, I hope?", he asked them, deliberately shipping around the more serious topic of how they were doing in military training. He was itching to know everything about their relationship with Shames, but he was loathe to spoil the good mood.

"Oh that", Liebgott finally answered reluctantly after a sheepish silence, "well, could've gone better."

"Oh come on", Dick replied, unable to hold back a grin, "don't tell me you lost against Able."

"They smashed us into pulp", Webster admitted bleakly, shrugging his shoulders. "But it wasn't our fault, we weren't allowed to train after Heffron sprained his ankle."

"Yeah, thanks for that, Babe", Malarkey added gloomily, nudging an apologetic looking Heffron.

This made Dick pause. That was really harsh, going so far as to dictate the men what to do and what not in their sparse free time. He already had a good guess who was behind it, which led right to the more unpleasant part of things.

"Lieutenant Shames?", he asked quietly, receiving a few dark nods. He burned to put himself clearly in one line with his men against Shames, but he knew that he should be the one trying to calm things down, not further stoking the fire. There was hardly anything less acceptable in the army than one officer undermining the authority of the other in the same company. However, he could not prevent himself from getting angry at this newest incompetence of said officer. Just another high-born airhead who had no idea how to be a good leader to the men and how these exceptional soldiers should be treated.

"Well, it won't be too long now", Dick instead chose to promise fervently. "We'll reserve some extra-time for basketball training, which I'll personally oversee. Can't have my men losing against Able, that's totally inacceptable. You're Easy. You're faster, you're stronger and you're much more clever than Able, you ought to beat them."

The uplifting grins and resolute nods he received in return told him a lot about the men's desperate need for some support from the sides of their officers. Hell, did no one bother to give them a pep talk every once in a while? They looked for all the world like beaten dogs.

"Sounds very good, sir", Roe replied for the others, giving him a rare smile that Dick returned immediately. The medic was a strong player and Dick could understand if he was impatient to get back to basketball training.

"What else did I miss?", Dick asked lightly. "You lost in a nighttime exercise against the Aldbourne kindergarten?"

Some good-natured grumbling was the first response to that, then Talbert chose to answer, "Actually first platoon had a nighttime solo-maneuver with Lieutenant Peacock. We passed."

The rather sober description of the success from the sergeant did not surprise Dick. He had heard from Nix about the maneuver and Peacock's struggle to pass.

"That's good to hear, Tab", he answered. "I'm sure you did great."

A few shrugs were the only response.

"Our solo-maneuver with Lieutenant Shames is settled for tomorrow morning", Lipton then informed him somberly.

"What?", Dick exclaimed, not believing his ears and giving Nix a look of reproach that he only now heard about that, but receiving only a shrug from his friend that told him he had not known about it either. "Why is he getting a solo-maneuver with you? This doesn't make any sense, he'll be returning to Dog anyway as soon as I'm back. He should be training with them."

"Don't know, sir", Guarnere answered in a rather subdued voice. "But order came right from Major Horton and Colonel Sink."

Something was definitely off, and Dick did not like it at all. Second platoon was his platoon and these solo-maneuvers just existed because they were supposed to hone the connection and discipline between soldiers and platoon leader. The exercise was actually more important for the officer than for his men. So why did they think it favorable to let Shames lead _his_ men in the solo-maneuver? All of this just reeked of Sobel's doing, Dick was sure of it. It was high time for a talk with Regiment.

"So, when will you be back, sir?", Bull asked softly and Dick suddenly found the undivided attention of all the present men on him, watching his every move.

Again this stupid, _stupid_ question. It just burned on his tongue to tell them that he would be back in just a few days. But he was still recovering and could not make promises that he was unable to hold.

"The doctors need to clear me for duty", he replied reluctantly. "At the very soonest in three weeks."

The three weeks were the span the doctors had settled when talking about letting him go back to light duty, but he was sure he could speed up things a bit. They had said he was recovering quickly, after all.

Before his men could answer, the tent flap was pulled back and Sobel and Shames entered. The men still sitting snapped to their feet and Dick followed their example a bit more slowly. Sobel immediately noticed him among the men, a frosty smile coming to his lips as he came closer, Shames close on his heels.

"Lieutenant Winters, what a surprise", the captain drawled, eyeing Dick from head to toe. "I wouldn't have reckoned seeing you here already, after that nasty bout of sickness you suffered from."

The way Sobel said it one could get the notion that Dick had spent an evening in bed with a runny nose, not almost dying from an infection that had spread in his whole abdomen. Not speaking of the half-healed eight-inch scar that decorated his belly.

"I'm much better already, sir", Dick replied in a level voice, forcing all negative thoughts towards his CO from his mind.

"Good", Sobel answered coolly. "Be glad we have some soft-hearted senior officers or the pampering would already have stopped, Dick."

Dick felt himself bristling, but he tamped down on his irritation with all his might. Seeing Shames give him an insolent smirk did not help matters.

"Sir", Dick said clearly, but in a detached voice that he fled himself into whenever he was dealing with another one of Sobel's bouts of unfairness. "If you'd be willing to forego medical clearance for duty, I'd be happy to receive back command of second platoon tomorrow."

That at least wiped the smirk from Shames' face. But it was a risky game he played and as soon as he had spoken the words aloud, Dick already regretted to have let himself be goaded by Sobel. What if the captain actually accepted him back and had the whole company run twelve miles tomorrow? No way Dick could keep up with the rest of the men and he had that creepy gut feeling that Sobel knew it, too.

"No, Dick", Sobel finally replied in an inscrutable, rather soft voice. "You take your time to recover just as Regiment tells you to do."

Now that was downright scary and Dick had to struggle hard not to gawk at his CO. From anyone else these words would express caring towards him, but not from Sobel, it could not be. What game was the captain playing?

"Yes, sir", Dick just answered shortly, then saw Sobel turning around, quirking a very quick smile at Shames, before addressing the men, "Platoon one and three! I reschedule our training for tomorrow morning to 0430, instead of 0530. Second platoon will be ready to set out with Lieutenant Shames at 1100. Be on time."

After that short announcement he exited the tent with Shames in tow, leaving Dick to watch after him and listen to the groaning of the men.

-tbc-


	10. Chapter 10

_Thanks very much to my lovely reviewers: __**beth-rodrigues.77 **__(yeah, you're right, there won't be quite as much Lizzie in the following chapters as there has been in the last ones, but she won't be totally out of the picture. ;-) So happy you liked the reunion. And yeah, if you hated Sobel and Shames in the last chapter, you certainly won't love them in this chapter! :-)) Thanks very much for your encouraging words, I'm always looking forward to your reviews!), __**ScarlettLeon**__ (Hehe, Kitty, maybe I'll write her into the story later on. Since you hated Shames in the last chapter, just wait for his appearance in this chapter... :-))) Thanks for the review!), __**Jayden**__ (Thanks for your review, I'm very happy you liked the last chapter. Yes, the men will certainly find out soon about Dick and Lizzie... :-))), __**ChocAndSnow19 **__(Thanks for your wonderful review! I promise that Lizzie will be around in the next few chapters, there is much more coming for her and Dick. ;-) And you'll see very soon if your hunch (about Sobel's nasty plan) was right... :-)))._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dick had planned to see either Horton or Sink the following day to talk with them about settling a date for receiving back command for second platoon, but they were both away in London until the next day. So Dick was again confined indoors at the Barnes' and he was actually looking forward to the check-up at the military hospital in the evening, which would at least allow him to leave the house. And he would see Lizzie again, which made him all the more impatient.

Since he was alone, with the Barnes working downstairs in the shop and Elaine in school, he had settled himself down on the couch in the living room, so he would immediately notice Nix returning from the base to take him to the hospital. Driving himself would still be awkward, because stepping down onto the gas pedal with his right foot meant some painful pulling in his side.

The door opened and Dick instantly looked up from the newspaper on his lap. Seeing Nix coming through the door, Dick got up at once, folding the paper and depositing it on the small table in the living room.

"Are you ready to go?", he asked his friend instead of a greeting.

"My, you're impatient", Nix just replied with a grin. "Can't wait to have the doctors prod at you?"

"Something like that", Dick answered, donning his jacket. "Paperwork is more or less finished, I can't think of anything else to do right now. They should really let me do some light work by now, staying inside all day will soon drive me up the walls."

"Not to mention there's a lovely nurse waiting for you at the hospital", Nix added with a foxy smile, when they left the house and walked to the car.

Dick decided not to give an answer to that.

"Second platoon is now on its 24-hours solo-maneuver with Shames", Nix informed him after driving some time in silence.

"Yeah, I know", Dick just answered darkly. Thoughts of his men had not left him the whole day. "You heard anything of them?"

"No, not yet. They probably keep quiet about it until they're back tomorrow morning", his friend replied, giving him a glance from the side.

"I'll try to have a word with Lipton tomorrow evening", Dick said, pursing his lips.

Nix nodded at that and they soon arrived at the hospital on the base. They entered the building, then steered towards one of the examination rooms. Dick's heart skipped a beat when he saw that Lizzie was already there, sitting in a chair with her head down on another book with some dark romantic cover. She looked healthy, her face not anymore as pale as three days ago, as he was very happy to see. He had to smile when he saw her nibbling her lips from the tension of the story, obviously having forgotten everything around her. He would have been content to stand there and watch her a few seconds longer without her noticing, but Nix spoilt the moment by tsking his tongue.

"And you call this working, Florence?", he drawled lazily, making Lizzie snap up her head, then a smile came to her face that showed her dimples. The twinkle was firmly back in her brown eyes and Dick found himself struggling against grinning like a fool in response.

"Lieutenant Casanova", she replied long-sufferingly, closing her book and putting it away. "My shift ended an hour ago, so I sure as hell are allowed to do whatever I want to do."

Dick could now see her struggling to keep her face straight, getting up from the chair and walking towards them.

"Dick", she greeted him with a brilliant smile, scrutinizing him from head to toe. "You're looking good."

"You, too", he replied before thinking, the words just slipping from his tongue. As soon as he had said it, he realized she had meant his physical condition. He felt a familiar heat rise in his cheeks and inwardly called himself a fool for his blundering. On top of it all, he heard Nix snort beside him, muttering a low "Oh god" to himself.

"Thank you", Lizzie just answered unperturbedly, giving him another smile, not at all flustered. Then she looked to Nix, announcing in her most official tone, "Lieutenant Nixon, could you please wait outside? We have some really strict privacy regulations here, you aren't allowed to stay in the room during examination."

"Nice try, Florence", Nix replied grinningly, unimpressed. "I was present in dozens of examinations when Dick was here, no way I'm leaving now that things are getting interesting."

"Out!", she just commanded, pointing with the finger to the door.

"Alright, alright", Nix relented, lifting his hands in surrender. "You can have him all to yourself. I'm waiting in the car, Dick."

With that he turned around and strolled out of the room, leaving Lizzie and Dick alone.

"I'm sorry", Dick apologized for his friend, looking everywhere but in her eyes. "He can be such an ass sometimes."

"It's fine", she replied with a warm smile. "How are you?"

"Really good. Impatient to get back to my men", he answered, feeling his face cooling down and being again able to look into her face. "How have you been?"

"I'm doing alright", she answered, the smile leaving her face. "I wrote to my father two days ago and since then I'm quite well. Work has kept me busy, for which I'm glad. I also had some field training yesterday, they finally found someone to teach us some basic military skills."

This made Dick pause, looking at her intently.

"They'll send you to the field?", he asked her, only now realizing they had never talked about her plans after the invasion had started. Thinking about her coming even close to the front line brought some whole new worries to his mind.

"Not all of us", she answered quietly. "Some of us are required to stay here and teach the new arrivals coming from the States that will follow after we'll have won ground on continental Europe." After a short silence she added regretfully, "My father made me promise to stay in England, so I'll probably train the new nurses."

"That's good to hear", Dick replied, finding himself releasing a relieved breath.

"Yeah, great, while you risk your lives over there, I'll sit on my lazy ass here", she grumbled, showing Dick that her father had not received her promise easily.

"You'll be able to do more good here than on the continent", he tried to bolster her resolve. "You were a teacher, there's probably no one more suited for the training of new nurses than you."

"Thanks for your vote of confidence", she told him, a small smile on her lips again. "My hair will have turned completely grey with worry until you're back here safely."

"You'll still look good, even turned grey", he promised her, finding the courage to give her a shy smile.

"Thanks", she said again with a big grin, then changed the subject. "So, have you seen your men?"

"Yeah, I have", he answered, his thoughts turning to his platoon, wondering how they did in the solo-maneuver.

"And?", she dug deeper, not satisfied with the answer. "They threw a welcome-home party for you?"

"No", he replied smilingly. "But I think they'll be glad to have me back."

The thoughtful look he received at that made him pause a moment. Why was she all of a sudden studying him so closely?

"They don't like your replacement?", she asked hesitantly, making Dick wonder how she had so suddenly found out the most immediate reason for his worries. He had always made sure not to talk about Shames or other internal matters when she was around.

"Well, it's complicated", he just decided to answer, hoping she would leave it at that.

"So complicated I can't be trusted with it?", she pried, still smiling, but he could see the disappointment in her eyes.

"Lizzie, it's not that I don't trust you", he tried to explain, really not in the mood to let his problems with his company affect even these precious moments with her. "It's just that I'm not supposed to talk about internal military business with anyone not belonging to the regiment."

"Your fellow officers didn't have any qualms talking about your replacement in front of me", she shot back a bit huffily. True, the day Lizzie had met Harry, the others had talked about Shames, this was probably also where she had picked up on the tension between Dick and his replacement.

"I'm not them", he replied shortly. "I can't forbid them to talk about things I wouldn't feel safe telling uninvolved people."

"Yeah, of course", she said snidely, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms in front of her chest. The ensuing silence was rather tense, but Dick had no intention to give in. He was saved from thinking of a way to get her back on friendlier terms without having to tell her about Shames by the opening of the door and Dr. Greta Coombs entering the room.

"Am I interrupting something?", the doctor asked, obviously noticing the tension and giving both of them a long look. Her eyebrows were raised and the glance she gave Lizzie seemed to communicate something like a weary 'not again'.

"No, not at all", Lizzie answered, forcing a smile on her lips. "Lieutenant Winters was here a bit early and was about to get ready for examination."

Dick nodded at that, sitting down on the examination table. He tried to catch Lizzie's gaze, but she was not looking in his direction.

"How are you doing, Lieutenant Winters?", Dr. Coombs asked him, carefully sitting down on a chair with one hand resting on her swollen belly. "Any discomfort?"

"No, everything fine", he replied, giving up the attempt to get Lizzie to look at him. "I'm doing really good, doctor, and to be honest, I feel up to working again. Just some light work, for a few hours a day."

"Look, we already talked about this", the doctor answered with a frown. "No strenuous activity for the next three weeks."

"Maybe you have the wrong notion about what kind of work I'm thinking of", Dick continued, not yet ready to accept defeat. "Regiment is always happy to have someone help out staff with administration and such things. I would be sitting behind a desk the whole day."

"You're still on antibiotics. You need rest and good food", the doctor replied, but there was a tiny moment of hesitation and Dick picked up on it immediately.

"Dr. Coombs", he said with a smile and with as much sincerity as he could muster, "you'll always have my thanks for saving my life and giving me the best care possible. I know the limits of my body very well, but I can't be too selfish right now. We live in difficult times and I didn't come to England to lie around in bed the whole time. Staff would be really grateful for some help."

The doctor sighed, looking at him for a long time, then finally giving him a single nod.

"Alright", she conceded, making Dick cheer to himself inwardly. "There's no point in holding you back when you're this adamant about it. I'll sign your clearance for light duty as soon as the stitches are out. Not one day earlier."

He decided he could live with that. It was only four more days, at least his waiting would come to an end soon.

"Thank you", he told her with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah", she replied, motioning for him to be quiet with her hands. "Now show me your abdomen."

The examination did not take long and Dick was soon ready to leave the room, a new bottle of antibiotics in his pocket. Dr. Coombs had been needed elsewhere, so he found himself again alone with Lizzie, slowly walking down the floor towards the exit.

"I miss our time together in the evenings", she said softly, obviously making an effort to forget their earlier short clash of opinions. "It's rather boring here without you."

"Yeah, I miss talking to you, too", Dick replied, giving her a small smile. "And talking of boring, this sick leave is about to drive me crazy. I'm really looking forward to be back and working."

"That was a cunning little display of sweet-talking you just did back there with Greta, getting her to let you back on light duty by the end of the week", she said slyly, but with a smile that showed appreciation. "Never seen anyone wrap her around the finger that quickly. You really don't look it, but you can be a charming, sweet-talking devil when you set your mind to it."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean", Dick replied, trying his best to look innocent.

"This is exactly what I mean, you're doing it again", she stated with a low chuckle, nudging him with her shoulder. "Everyone is so fooled by the respectable and detached front you put on, they would never put it past you there's another side to you that is less perfect and more... let's say... human."

"Well, I'm certainly not one of your Lovecraftian aliens", he answered grinningly, making light of her rather hazy comment.

"Yeah, that was exactly what I meant", she replied long-sufferingly, but giving him a smile nonetheless.

They had reached the front doors of the hospital and they both drew to a halt. It burned on Dick's tongue to invite her for a drink or ask her to take a stroll with him, but he held himself back. She had told him that work kept her busy at the moment, he could not ask of her to spend her precious free time with him.

"Alright, I'll see you soon", he instead opted to tell her, seeing her give him another smile, but there was a tiny flicker of disappointment in her eyes before she masked it again.

"Sure", she just answered. "Bye Dick."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Sir, good to see you", Lipton greeted him with a small smile on his tired face that Dick returned despite the tense situation.

"Lip", Dick answered simply with a nod of his head. He noticed the sergeant hiding a yawn and he suspected that the messenger he had sent to get Lipton had had the task of waking the sergeant. After all, second platoon had been on their feet for more than 24 hours, they deserved some hours of sleep after getting back from the maneuver. "I'm sorry for cutting short your rest."

"It's no trouble, sir", Lipton answered softly. "I had almost five hours of sleep, that's pretty much luxurious in our current tight schedule."

Dick gave him a curt nod in response. It was eight o'clock in the evening and the sun had set hours ago, leaving him and Lipton to walk in darkness towards the exit of the base.

"So you failed the maneuver?", Dick got to the point right away, feeling unable to beat around the bush since this was the reason why he had rushed to the base as soon as he had heard the news from Nix.

"Yeah, we did", Lipton answered with a wince and evaded Dick's glance to look to the ground. "It was a disaster. Shames changed his mind every five minutes and shooed us from one position to the other. In the end, no one really knew what his current assignment was. The maneuver was more a chicken run than anything else."

Dick listened intently, grinding his teeth in displeasure.

"Guarnere of course couldn't keep quiet", Lipton continued quietly. "He almost got into a fight with Shames, I could hold him back at the last second. Shames even threatened to have him busted back to private, which wasn't helpful for our situation at all."

Pursing his lips, Dick shook his head at what he heard. Seemed like second platoon could be content if they got away without court-martial.

"This is really serious", Dick replied, frowning. "It makes the whole company appear in a bad light." He stopped, then looked at Lipton closely. "Lip, can you swear that you NCOs and the men really did everything they could to succeed in the maneuver? Because I can't do anything for you if it turns out you were purposely rebellious and unmotivated."

"Sir", Lipton replied fervently, "we tried, we really did. You have to believe me. He wouldn't even hear us out, he just told us to shut up whenever Grant, Guarnere or I wanted to make corrections on our position. There was nothing we could do, except going against direct orders. But this would've qualified as mutiny."

Dick looked at Lipton, seeing nothing but honesty in his eyes, and finally nodded. Hell, what a mess! Rubbing his eyes, he tried to think of a way out of this situation. He had to see Horton or if possible even Sink. There was no point going to Sobel, his CO would only try to keep everything beneath covers. But it was still a risky move, directly addressing Regiment over the head of his CO, and there might be disciplinary consequences in store for Dick. This was why he needed to be sure second platoon had not deliberately made the maneuver more difficult out of dislike for Shames. Otherwise Regiment would never tolerate criticism coming from simple enlisted men and a lowly lieutenant. But something had to be done and Dick needed to trust Lip's word on the course of events.

In the mean time, they had left the base and walked rather aimlessly through the quiet streets of the village of Aldbourne. Dick felt more comfortable discussing this sensitive matter away from curious ears. Maybe it was time to call all NCOs together, even those of the other platoons, and try to figure out together what to do.

"What was the reason they gave for pronouncing your maneuver a failure?", Dick asked Lipton after some time of silence.

"We were two hours late", Lipton replied with a sigh, "we were detected by an enemy patrol in the woods and we lost more than half of the platoon during the assault. There wasn't much of a debate whether we passed or not."

"How did Sobel and Regiment react?", Dick continued to ask, not at all liking what he heard.

"Sobel was fuming, so was Regiment", Lipton answered quietly and ran a tired hand over his face. "Shames was pissed off, too, and so were we. Horton told Shames in no unclear terms that he was unsuited as a platoon leader, if the results continued to be this bad, but Shames just tried to portray us as responsible for his blundering. Not really sure if Regiment believed him, because we were then dismissed and they continued their talk in private."

Before Dick had the chance to answer, the door of a pub they were passing by opened and out stepped Perconte and Malarkey. Dick could see that they certainly were not sober by the way they walked, although he could not really fault them for it, after the day they had behind them. They were deeply immersed in their conversation, their voices rather agitated, and they only noticed Dick and Lipton standing in front of them in the street after almost bumping into them.

"Sir", Perconte and Malarkey murmured to Dick, then shot each other a long look from rather hooded eyes. This look immediately raised Dick's suspicion.

"Don, Frank", he returned their greeting. "Are you doing alright?"

"Not sure, sir", Malarkey replied somberly, while Perconte looked back over his shoulder to the pub. Dick followed his gaze. The lights were on, the pub was still open and people inside were talking rather loudly, he could hear the voices even through the shut front door. Did they sound angry?

"What's going on in there?", Dick asked with some alarm, realizing that something was definitely off. Feelings running high and alcohol were never a good combination and tended to provoke people to do something downright stupid.

"I think they'll calm down on their own eventually", Perconte replied, but the answer only served to worry Dick even more. With long strides he walked to the pub, leaving Malarkey and Perconte on the street, but with Lipton close behind him.

When Dick pushed open the door, he could hardly believe the scene unfolding before his eyes. Some of the Easy men were facing a group of American infantry soldiers, their stances tense and some of them – Guarnere, Martin, Cobb and Liebgott – trading insults with the other group. The barkeeper, who had obviously tried to settle the dispute, was shoved out of the way by the infantry troopers and retreated behind the counter for cover. The chairs were pushed back, and Dick could easily tell that the two groups were just moments away from going at each other's throat.

"Screaming Eagle?", one of the infantry troopers made himself be heard above the noise, voice taunting. "Looks more like a puking pigeon to me."

"You shut your mouth, fuckhead!", Guarnere yelled, barely being held back by Bull, who had firmly put himself between the two groups together with Grant and Talbert in an attempt to keep them separated. "You get your fucked up ass out of my eyes or I'm relieving the Krauts of the task to squish you to pulp!"

"I'll break your goddamned chicken wings!", an infantry sergeant shouted in response, advancing on Guarnere. "You motherfuckers won't walk away from..."

"You stop this right NOW!", Dick bellowed over the noise, striding over and placing himself together with Lipton next to Bull, Grant and Talbert. "Are you out of your minds? You calm down now!"

Dick's appearance in the middle of the two groups took everyone by surprise, the noise dying down immediately. However, the situation remained close to boiling over. Dick did not miss the looks of fury the Easy men were shooting the infantry soldiers and the other way around. There were at least ten infantry soldiers against the seven Easy men, of whom three were acting as troubleshooters.

"Everyone takes three steps backwards", Dick commanded sharply. He needed more space between the two groups, before someone was doing something rash and things would escalate. However, none of the soldiers made a move to obey, so Dick snapped again, "You take three steps back now, this is an order!"

Before he knew it, he received a push in the back from one of the infantry soldiers, making him stumble against Lipton. The move enraged the Easy men, with Liebgott and Guarnere straining against the grasp of Bull and Talbert. One of the infantry soldiers threw a punch at Cobb and Martin immediately retaliated, throwing himself at the other soldier.

Dick found himself being righted by Lipton, and he quickly turned back towards the infantry soldiers. The one who had shoved him advanced on Bull, all of a sudden a glass bottle in his hand. Dick saw him raise the bottle over Bull's head and without thinking he latched himself onto the arm of the infantry trooper, forcing the bottle out of his hand. The soldier tried to fight Dick off, struggling in his grip and trying to throw a punch at him, which made Dick use his advantage in height and strength to push the other over his stretched out leg onto the ground. As soon as the soldier hit the floor, Dick reached for the sidearm he always kept on him and aimed it at the middle of the scuffle.

"You step away from each other!", he shouted, his voice carrying over the noise of the fight. The sight of the gun (although still locked, which they did not need to know) and the order dealt out in a razor-sharp voice finally had the desired effect. The fight was over, the infantry men slowly stepping away from the Easy men, who were drawn into the opposite corner of the bar by Lipton and Bull.

"Grant, go and get MP", Dick commanded, lowering his weapon, but not putting it away.

"Yes, sir", Grant answered and immediately left the room.

The infantry soldiers stared at him out of wide eyes, probably only slowly realizing that Dick was an officer.

"This is a totally inacceptable behavior for the US Army", Dick upbraided them and his own men harshly, feeling anger bubble to the surface at their actions now that the danger was over. "You bring shame on your country, shame on your company and shame on your fellow soldiers. There will be repercussions for this."

"Lieutenant Winters", Liebgott addressed him in a heated voice, shooting a look of contempt to the infantry soldiers. "They started it! They provoked us, we had no other choice..."

"Shut your face, yid!", the infantry sergeant spat.

"Enough!", Dick snapped. "You all shut up until MP is here."

They obeyed, although unwillingly. At least everybody had calmed down to the point where they were again open for the voice of reason. Dick could see that Cobb was bleeding from his nose and Martin had a rather long scratch across his forehead, but apart from some minor injuries, no one had got seriously hurt.

With the rush from the fight abating, Dick could feel his own half-healed wound start to throb with pain. Wrestling with the other soldier definitely was not what would help him speed up recovery.

After a minute or two of silence, Bull came over to Dick, giving him a long look.

"Sir, am I allowed to speak?", he asked softly. Since he had not been involved in the brawl, Dick nodded for him to go on. "There's no excuse for what our boys did, sir, they should've walked away from this. But still, it's true what Joe said: they started the fight, not us."

"Look, that's for someone else to decide", Dick replied with a frown. "I can't be partial just because you're my men."

"You saw them throw the first punch and believe me, sir, they also started with the insults. The boys were just reacting", Bull told him slowly.

Dick released a low sigh, eyeing the big soldier closely. He believed him, he really did, but there was no changing of the facts that they had been involved in fighting, which was normally punished severely. Usually, such transgressions were resulting in court-martial. Hell, there was even the danger of dishonorable discharge from the army, which none of them deserved. The thought left him feeling weak in the knees.

He gave Bull a nod, then slowly walked over to the corner where his men were quietly standing beside each other. His side was by now complaining with each step he took and he all of a sudden felt something warm trail down his stomach. Sneaking a hand beneath his uniform and drawing it away again, he saw blood on his fingers. Damn it, he must have torn his stitches! As if there were not already enough worries on his mind. He tried to wipe his fingers on his trousers as inconspicuously as possible before he joined the circle of his men.

Guarnere gave him an agonized look from dark eyes and murmured softly, "I'm very sorry, sir, this shouldn't have happened."

Dick looked to the others involved in the fighting, Cobb, Liebgott and Martin. They all looked remorseful, maybe only now realizing how bad this could end.

"You should've known better than to let yourselves be goaded", Dick admonished them, but his voice had turned gentler now. "I don't want to see you get kicked out of the army because of some stupid bar brawl."

"They attacked you, sir", Guarnere told him through gritted teeth. "They can't get away with that."

"And they won't", Dick replied earnestly, realizing that at least part of the escalation of the situation had been provoked by the protectiveness of his men towards himself. Despite the dire situation he could not help feeling a faint tweak of affection tug at his heart.

The door opened and Grant came back with ten MPs on his heel. And Shames, as Dick noticed with dismay.

"What's the meaning of this?", Shames demanded imperiously. "You dogs have been fighting?"

"Lieutenant Shames", Dick replied frostily, "everything is under control now, I'll settle things with MP."

This was as much as telling Shames to get lost. But it looked like the other lieutenant had no intention of following Dick's wishes.

"Lieutenant Winters", he drawled, coming closer, "since you're still on sick leave and you're presently not in command of any of the men in here, I do think that my presence is required, wouldn't you agree?"

No, Dick did not agree, but that answer was out of question, so he just gave Shames a tight nod and then turned towards the lieutenant of the MP squad.

"Thank you for coming here this quickly", Dick told the other lieutenant. "I'm First Lieutenant Richard Winters."

"First Lieutenant Gregory West", the other introduced himself shortly. "So what are we dealing with here?"

"Fighting", Dick replied, suppressing a sigh. "Risk of injury, failure to obey order, disrespect and assault of a superior officer. But not all of them took part in all transgressions. As far as I can tell, the infantry men over there acted as aggressors towards the paratroopers."

"But since Lieutenant Winters acted as a platoon leader of most of the paratroopers present in this room", Shames barged in with an overbearing tone towards the MP officer, "he might be too biased to assess the situation objectively."

Now Dick himself suddenly had to ring for calm, itching to bury his own fist in Shames' sneering face. Not that this would have helped their situation or set a good example, which was why he managed to keep his coolness despite the anger cursing through his veins.

"Is that true, Lieutenant Winters?", the MP officer asked him with a frown.

"Yes, it's true", Dick reluctantly acknowledged. "But I know what I saw and I'll testify under oath that everything I saw and state is the truth."

"No one accuses you of lying", Lieutenant West tried to appease Dick, obviously noticing him getting agitated. "But there are regulations concerning such cases as here with officers serving as witnesses for their own troops."

"Then ask the barkeeper!", Dick blurted out, trying to get a grip on his temper. He normally had the patience of a saint, but Shames had a way to get under his skin and make him want to blow up in his face. Dick noticed Lipton joining him, the presence of the sergeant oozing calm and support, for which he was really grateful.

"We'll do that in a minute, just tell me your version of the events first", the MP officer prompted Dick in a neutral voice.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Dick began, "Sergeant Lipton and I were walking on the streets when we heard noise coming from this pub. I wanted to see what was going on and found the infantry men taunting the paratroopers from my company and the other way round. Sergeant Grant, Sergeant Talbert and Private Randleman were trying to settle the dispute. I ordered the two groups to step away from each other, an order that was ignored. The infantry private over there shoved me, which provoked the fight."

"Alright", Lieutenant West acknowledged with a nod and then asked, "Who was throwing the first punch?"

"One of the infantry troopers", Dick replied, hearing the infantry men grumble a denial. "It's true, I saw the sergeant over there starting the fight. One of them even tried to use a glass bottle as a weapon."

"That's not true!", one of the infantry soldiers barged in. "The parachute boys started the fight."

"Silence, trooper!", the MP officer snapped. "You'll answer when you're asked a question, otherwise you keep your mouth shut. I know your face and I know this isn't your first transgression."

Dick was quite relieved to hear that. Maybe his boys had the chance of getting off lightly, he hoped, before the other lieutenant addressed him again.

"Do you have disciplinary problems for your men to disobey the direct order coming from you to step away from each other?", West then asked, a question that took Dick by surprise.

"No, I don't", he answered, all of a sudden defensive. What kind of question was that? "They're usually very quick to obey orders."

"That's tweaking truth a bit, Lieutenant Winters", Shames interfered, his small eyes glinting. "These paratroopers have some serious problems with discipline. Sergeant Guarnere over there was only seconds away from assaulting me not even 24 hours ago and I could at least point out two more men who ignored a direct order."

"That's because you...", Guarnere began to retort, his face a mask of anger.

"Guarnere!", Dick cut him off sharply, hardly believing the sergeant's foolishness. Damn it, couldn't that one just think before he opened his mouth?!

"Shut it, sergeant", the MP officer again commanded, now in a voice that showed that he was at the end of his patience. "I've heard enough, every soldier that has been in the pub before Lieutenant Winters came in will spend the night in a detention cell. Your case will be tried tomorrow, if deemed necessary before court-martial."

Dick could practically see the faces of his men fall. Not good.

"Lieutenant West", Dick tried again to be heard by the MP officer, now definitely alarmed. "As I said before, three of my men were acting as mediators, they did nothing wrong. You can't put them into a detention cell, this will be put in their files."

"Look, I can't see whom I'm supposed to believe, you seem to have some serious issues in your company", the MP officer stated with a frown. "We'll see who's right by tomorrow."

"But these men are innocent!", Dick insisted, seeing Shames give a smirk at that. Hell, was this only about revenge for Shames, to punish the men for the failing of the maneuver? Dick swore to himself then and there, if there ever came the possibility, he would have the other lieutenant kicked from the army.

"They're coming with me, Lieutenant Winters, I won't change my mind. And if you don't back off right now, you'll be in trouble, too", West retorted, a stormy expression on his face.

Dick bit his lips to hold himself back from aggravating the other lieutenant even more and just gave a tight nod, standing to the side to let the MPs lead away his Easy men. At least they held their heads high, not ready to give in yet. Dick watched them closely until all of them had marched out of the room, West smashing the pub door behind him, leaving Dick alone with Lipton, Shames and the barkeeper.

"You're bleeding, Winters", Shames pointed out with a sneer. "You try to help your men and they make you bleed. That's how it's always going to be with these guys, but you don't get that. They're not your friends, they're your tools."

"Get out of my face, Shames", Dick growled, not at all in the mood for putting up with the other's twisted theories. "You've said enough."

"Just be careful", Shames replied in a low voice, walking towards the door, "fraternization is tried by court-martial, too."

With that, Shames left the pub. Dick felt the sudden urge to kick the chair in front of him, but held himself back, for Lipton's and his stomach's sake. Running a hand through his hair, he took some deep breaths and then lowered himself onto the chair, instead of kicking it. He looked down on himself and saw that the wound had bled through his uniform, showing a patch of red at his side.

"This doesn't look good, sir", Lipton remarked with a frown of worry.

"Yeah, but there are other things not looking good, either", Dick replied darkly. He had never been a cynic, but if things continued to be this messed up he would soon turn into one. There was a war going on and they had not even seen battle yet, but he felt like he was fighting all the time.

"True, sir", Lipton replied, a faint smile on his face. "But at least this one is in our hands to make better."

"Yeah, you're right", Dick answered with a sigh. He rolled up his uniform to inspect the damage he had done to his healing side. The wound was still oozing blood, although sluggishly, but at least he had only torn about a third of his stitches and not all of them.

"I'm going to get the car to drive you to the hospital", Lipton said and Dick gave him a quick nod.

Great, this shitty evening was not over yet, he could already picture the reprimands he was going to hear for tearing his stitches. Fortune really hated him.

-tbc-


	11. Chapter 11

_Thanks very much for your steady support, my dear reviewers! You guys rock! :-))) _

_**Jayden **__(I hope you're better now and not ill anymore! I was so happy to see that I could cheer you up with an update last week, this is so sweet. :-))) Yeah, Shames, I don't think he'll ever get any more popular... *ggg*. And you got it exactly, Dick tearing his stitches will give me an excuse to get him together with Lizzie again. :-))), __**beth-rodrigues.77 **__(Hehe, poor Shames, you don't like him... :-)) Only kidding, he's a bastard. ;-) I guarantee you there won't be too much damage on Dick's part, but he'll get to see Lizzie again, so that's good, isn't it? :-) And yeah, if you had to sum up Lizzie's character, "straightforward" would definitely fit her very nicely. Thanks so much and have a very nice week, too!), __**ScarletLeon**__ (Yeah, I love the Easy sergeants (Bull, Tab, Chuck), too, and I would actually love to bring them more often into the story! But I do try to make them appear as often as I can, I promise, because you said so fittingly, they're sweetheart teddy bears! *lol* And true, I asked myself whom you'd find fighting in a bar brawl and Guarnere, Martin, Cobb and Liebgott were the ones I thought of first. ;-)) Glad it fits! Hehe, there'll be even more tension between Lizzie and Dick in this chapter... :-))) Loved your wonderful review!), __**AnimeGirl 144 **__(Hey and welcome to the story, it's so wonderful to have picked up another reader on the road! :-))) Funny that you said you normally don't read pairings with OCs, because I normally don't write this kind of FF... :-))) My very first FF was an OC story, that was ten years ago, and only now I'm writing one again. Hehe, so that somehow fits and I can promise I'll never lose sight of the relationship between Dick and Easy, the OC is just one aspect of the story, not everything. And you're definitely right with the rally-around-the-flag thing, that was exactly what caught my interest, too, so my story can be seen as some kind of very long and very liberal missing scene story... :-))) I'm so happy to hear you got inspired to write some BoB story of your own! I know it takes some time for researches, because of all the military business (I'm really not an army geek myself...), but it's fun all the same. :-))) Thanks for your wonderful review and I hope to hear from you again!), __**ChocAndSnow19 **__(Yeah, you're definitely right, it was quite unfair what happened to the Easy men, it was pretty much out of frustration that they have even let themselves be taunted. And yeah, the silver lining in the cloud is definitely coming, but I hope you won't be too mad at me at the end of this chapter... Because it won't come right now... Sorry... :-))) And I'm afraid Shames has not got any more likeable in this chapter, he's still a scumbag... *g* Thanks so much for your review, I'm always looking forward to hearing from you!)._

_I'm sorry the updates are still rather slow to come, my time schedule is tighter than ever. It might cheer you up to know that I set myself a minimum of updating at least once every two weeks. I just can't make it every week right now, but I try to update every ten days or so. At least the chapters are rather long, right? :-)_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"What about Clotilde if it's a girl?", Lizzie asked innocently, taking a bite of the apple in her hand and trying to suppress a grin at the look of annoyance on Greta's face. It was a quiet evening in the emergency ward, so she and Greta had seated themselves at a small table close to the entrance during their shift while chatting and drinking coffee.

"No, Lizzie, for the last time, I won't give my child a name that has been popular more than thousand years ago and has never been used again since then", Greta replied with a sigh. "And I don't care if it was the name of a king or a queen, since the other children in school won't care about that either. So stop your so-called 'help', we'll find a name, Paul and I."

"Yeah", Lizzie answered around chewing, "but by the time you'll have decided on a name, the child will long have graduated from high school. Great, at least you can then ask him or her directly if he or she likes the name."

"Very funny", Greta answered, drumming her fingers on the small table in between them. "We'll find a name, we just don't want to rush things. We have plenty of time yet, I still got more than two months."

Lizzie was thinking of a comeback when she heard a car halting outside the emergency ward.

"Looks like we'll finally have work on our hands", Lizzie commented, chucking the rest of her apple into the trash and getting up. No one was screaming for help, so she just waited close to the entrance, watching two shapes get out of the car in the darkness of night.

"It's fine, Lip, I can walk on my own", a familiar voice murmured, the two figures slowly coming closer and stepping into the well-lit emergency ward.

"Dick!", Lizzie exclaimed, his appearance taking her by surprise. She worriedly noticed his limp and the blood stain on his uniform. "What happened? God, are you alright?"

He looked up and gave a tight nod with his lips pursed into a thin line, "Yes, nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?", Greta now interrupted with raised eyebrows. "Of course, it's the normal thing to do, happily bleeding into your clothes in the evening. Why am I not surprised? It only took you four days out of hospital to tear your stitches."

For one moment it seemed like Dick was actually going to snap at Greta, the look on his face downright thunderous.

"I'm not in the mood for this", he instead chose to reply through gritted teeth. Lizzie realized something bad must have happened, she had never seen him this furious. Greta probably noticed his anger, too, because she stopped rebuking him further and led him to one of the examination tables in silence.

"Dick, what happened?", Lizzie asked again, slowly getting really worried. He just shook his head and lowered himself on the table. God, why couldn't he just tell her what had happened? Since he stubbornly refused to even talk to her, she looked to his companion, Carwood Lipton. She remembered him from their encounter about two weeks ago at the pub and she also knew he was aware of her feelings towards Dick. However, she had no intention of letting Dick in on that.

"I'm Second Lieutenant Weiss", she introduced herself, hoping Lipton would play along. "I was tending to Lieutenant Winters during his time here."

"Sergeant Lipton", he in turn introduced himself, his kind eyes giving her a wink.

"Sergeant, can you tell me what happened?", Lizzie asked again, while she observed Greta revealing Dick's bleeding wound. Hell, the wound was well into healing, it would have taken quite a bit of force to split it open again.

"It was a bar fight", Dick finally answered grimly, relieving Lipton of the task to answer for his superior.

"You were in a bar fight?", Lizzie could not help herself from bursting out.

"I was splitting up a bar fight", he specified, giving her a frown that clearly communicated that he would never be found in such a situation. Okay, that seemed more like him and it calmed Lizzie down a bit.

"And who was fighting?", she dug deeper, seeing Lipton open his mouth for an answer, but Dick was quicker.

"I don't think that's medically relevant", he said with a scowl. It was said in such a cold voice that Lizzie had the sudden urge to shake him. What had they done to her gentle and funny Dick? He seemed like a completely different person and he could as well have lived on Mars, he certainly would not have felt more distant than right now.

"Lizzie, can you hand me some swabs and disinfectant?", Greta asked her, voice all professional, tearing Lizzie from her thoughts. She handed her friend the things and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. Everything else had to wait until later.

"Do you think he has torn the internal sutures, too?", Lizzie asked quietly when Greta had dabbed away the blood and inspected the wound.

"I'm not sure", her friend replied slowly. "I think it's just the superficial stitches, but I can't see the muscle properly. I'll check it again when he's sedated. Prepare a local anesthetic and morphine." Greta waited for Lizzie's nod, then addressed Dick, "Lieutenant Winters, please get in that bed over there."

"Why can't you just stitch it back up here?", Dick asked with a frown.

"Because the meds can mess with your walking abilities and I'm not in the mood of carrying you to your bed. This way you'll be able to rest just after the procedure", Greta answered with determination.

"I won't stay here for the night", Dick replied, scowling in turn at Lizzie and Greta.

"Yes, you will", the doctor replied. "You might be bleeding in your abdomen, so I certainly won't take the risk and send you home."

"I have a meeting tomorrow morning", Dick informed them through clenched teeth.

"Dick, be reasonable", Lizzie tried to get through to him. "It's better you stay here for the night. If you're well enough by tomorrow, you can still go to your appointment, right Greta?"

Her friend nodded and she looked expectantly at Dick. His eyes were a frosty blue and she could see a muscle clench and unclench in his jaw. God, he was tense, he looked like he was about to throw something around. Finally, he gave a nod of consent and walked over to the bed. Lizzie noticed Lipton staying at his side all the time and made a mental note to ask the sergeant about the fight later on.

"Is this really necessary?", Dick asked Lizzie when she was about to inject him with the morphine.

"Are you joking?", she replied lightly. "Putting sutures in your abdomen isn't the same as, let's say, putting stitches in your arm. You've got much more nerves in your belly, the local anesthetic alone won't be enough to keep you from jerking away from the sting of the needle. And I guess Greta's finger poking around in your wound won't be much fun, either."

He just gave a tight nod, then she continued with the injection. She could practically see him relax under the influence of the morphine, the tension draining from his body. He slowly leaned back in bed and let his head rest tiredly against the pillow. Good, he was finally calming down, her generous dose of the pain killer did wonders on him. After all, the more relaxed he was, the less it would hurt.

"Come, lie down completely", she told him gently and guided him down to rest flat on his back. He blinked sleepily up at her, making her smile. For one short moment she was tempted to touch his face, but she instead chose to squeeze his hand lying on his stomach. His heavily lidded gaze came to rest on her hand before he dragged his eyes back up to her face.

"'r hands are soft", he murmured drowsily. "White 'n soft... 't feels good... touchin' you."

It was the drug talking, she knew, but she still found herself smiling warmly. Maybe she had been a bit too liberal with the morphine, judging from the drooping of his eyelids and the scowl on Greta's face.

"How much did you give him?", her friend asked pointedly.

"Enough", Lizzie just answered, seeing that Dick's breathing was strong and regular. "He's fine, just a little dopey."

When she made a move to draw away her hand from him, his fingers immediately latched on hers again.

"Don't leave", he muttered sluggishly, eyes falling close. "Don't go 'way... Need you... love..."

His voice had trailed off into a whisper and she was not sure she had heard correctly his last words before falling into a drugged doze. She could feel her heart beating madly in her throat all the same. Could it be? Could he really just have said what she thought to have heard?

Suppressing with all her might the jittery smile that threatened to break through, she leaned down to him and whispered in his ear, "I'm not going anywhere, Dick, I'll stay with you."

He gave a sigh of content and only then she slowly disentangled her fingers from his. The sound of someone clearing his throat brought her back into the present. Looking up, she found both Greta and Lipton staring down at her. Lizzie was sure they had not heard Dick's words or her own, but she guessed her feelings were pretty much on open display for everyone to see. And Dick's too, for that matter.

"Okay, he's well sedated, I'll give him the local anesthetic now", Lizzie said, struggling for a professional tone.

The rest of the procedure passed as if in a haze. Lizzie handed Greta whatever was needed, her hands automatically obeying her friend's orders, but her thoughts were all the while circling around Dick's whispered words. Had he really called her 'love'? Maybe she had misheard. And even if he had said it, in his drugged state he could as well have imagined someone else sitting there with him. Maybe he had not really meant her. And perhaps he had wanted to say something else, but the drug had made him slur the words beyond their actual meaning. Damn it, the more she thought about it, the less sure she was about what she had heard.

"All done", Greta pronounced, cutting off the ends of the thread. "You should get some rest now, Lieutenant Winters."

Dick murmured something unintelligible in response, eyes already firmly shut. He had been more asleep than awake for the better part of the procedure, only wincing occasionally.

"Lizzie?", Greta asked. "Could you clean up here and then stay with him for another half an hour or so? I need to go and sit down, my back is killing me."

Lizzie nodded and watched her friend leave. There was no actual need for her to stay with Dick, he was stable, but she knew Greta well enough to recognize her friend's effort in letting her stay with him for a while without raising suspicion. Especially from Lipton, who was still standing beside Dick's bed. It came to her mind that she had wanted to question him earlier on.

"Carwood, please, just tell me what happened", Lizzie tried again. "I've never seen him this angry."

"Me neither", the sergeant replied simply, studying Dick intently. "He's usually pretty impassive."

"So?", she pried, getting impatient.

Lipton sighed, running a tired hand across his face.

"Look, I can see you're close, very close", he slowly answered. "He cares for you deeply and I really don't see why he wants to leave you in the dark about this, but fact is: he doesn't want you to know. And I certainly won't be the one going against his wishes."

"Damn you, Lipton!", she blurted out, her temper getting the better of her. "Are you a company of fucking saints?! Just tell me!"

"Ask him again when he's better", he replied patiently, his kind eyes showing compassion despite being the target of her tantrum.

She grunted at that, barely holding herself back from cursing him even further. It was not his fault, he was just being loyal and under different circumstances she would have hugged him for his devotion towards Dick, but right now she struggled to reign in her temper and stay fair. It was all Dick's fault. Why did he have to be so damn stubborn?

Looking down at him, she saw him sleep peacefully, his face relaxed. At least he was going to be alright, she thought with a sigh. Seeing him all bloody had really scared her and the sudden thought of losing him had brought her for a very short moment to the brink of panic. And if there was one feeling that should be banned from a hospital, it was panic. Lizzie sighed again. What was he doing to her?

"Well, I'm leaving, then", Lipton said with a slight uncertainty.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you", Lizzie replied, looking up at the sergeant and giving him an apologetic smile. "I forgot myself for a short moment."

"It's alright", he answered, giving her a smile that made his eyes almost disappear in laugh lines. "Good night, Lizzie."

"Take care of you, Carwood."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When Dick woke up the next morning, it felt like emerging from some deep, dark place that only reluctantly let him leave. His head was heavy and thinking was quite an effort with his thoughts sticking together like honey.

Why hadn't his mother woken him up for school? He was probably late already.

Looking around in the half-dark, he slowly realized he was not at home in Pennsylvania, but somewhere completely else. The surroundings seemed familiar, but before he could pinpoint where he was, he noticed a figure sleeping beside his bed, feet propped onto his mattress. Lizzie! The name immediately brought a warmness to his heart. She had reclined deeply into a chair with her arms crossed in front of her and her chin resting almost on her chest. Dark bangs covered her eyes and he could hear her deep and regular breathing. She must have stayed up with him the whole night. Seeing her resting peacefully, he suddenly remembered the events of the night before. The bar fight. He had a meeting with Sink and Horton that would decide whether his Easy men would face court-martial or not. He could not be late for this and he had no idea what time it was. The thought made him sit up straight in bed. His movements seemed to disturb Lizzie's sleep, because she murmured a protest, then slumped even deeper into her chair. Dick winced at that, the chair looked downright uncomfortable.

"Lizzie", he softly called out to her, touching her leg resting beside him on the bed. "Wake up."

"What? Why?", she muttered and run a hand over her face, then her eyes opened slowly and found his. "You're awake."

"Yeah, I am", he replied, smiling tenderly. "What time is it?"

"How should I know? You're the one awake, I'm not", she groused around a yawn, then winced at a crink in her neck.

He smiled again at her grumpiness. Looking around, his eyes came to rest upon his watch on the nightstand and he took it in his hand. Five o'clock in the morning. He had the meeting at nine, so he could sleep another two or three hours.

"Go to bed, Lizzie, it's five o'clock", he told her gently. "You shouldn't have stayed up with me the whole night."

She looked at him with eyes that shimmered softly in the half-dark, then after a while she replied quietly, "You asked me to stay. Don't you remember?"

Had he really? He remembered getting tired from the morphine, but everything else was pretty much a blank. With some alarm he wondered what else he had said.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember that", he answered hesitantly.

"It's alright, that's quite common. It's the morphine", she replied, giving a smile that did not reach her eyes. She cast down her eyes to her hands, her face suddenly vulnerable, and her frame seemed to have shrunk in the chair.

"Did I say something else?", Dick wanted to know, watching her closely. She did not react, so he tried to make light of the situation, "I hope it wasn't too embarrassing for anyone."

She snapped up her head, her brown eyes crashing into his, and for one moment she looked like she wanted to spill her thoughts, then she just sighed.

"You were drugged, Dick", she replied simply. "No one will take you up on what you said."

If he had not been alarmed already, he certainly was now. What the hell had he said? And why was Lizzie so serious right now? She normally was the one joking about everyone and everything.

"But you stayed when I asked you to", he gently pointed out.

"Yeah", she replied, her voice finally losing its seriousness and turning dry. "But then I never was a fully consistent person. And I didn't mean to fall asleep." She made a show of wincing and rubbing her back. "Damn it, these chairs are uncomfortable! And there's no point in going to the barracks, I need to be up in an hour anyway."

Before he had really thought about it, he offered, "Come here, the bed is big enough for both of us. It's certainly more comfortable than your chair."

"Dick, I'm working here. How would that look, snuggling up with my patients?", she said lightly, but with an undertone of uncertainty.

"True, the hundreds of people passing though here between five and six in the morning would all stare at you", Dick replied drily, making her snigger.

"You're really adamant to get me into bed with you", she answered with a cheeky grin that all of a sudden made Dick realize how improper his offer had been.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean it that way", he stammered, fumbling for words.

"Just move over", Lizzie replied smilingly, getting up from her chair and slipping under the sheets beside him. He was acutely aware of her warm body so close to his, making his blood rush in his veins. The scent of lavender wafted to his nose and he breathed it in deeply, imagining the softness of her hair beneath his fingers. He only had to stretch out his hand a tiny little bit and he would feel her skin on his... Swallowing hard, he cursed himself for this stupid idea. He was only torturing himself with her presence this close but still beyond his reach.

"Hmm, that's better", she sighed, almost instantly relaxing beside him, while Dick was still struggling to keep his thoughts from straying too far. It was not before long that he heard her breathing grow even.

He just lay there and did not dare to move a muscle because he was afraid he would wake her. Every thought of sleep was far from his mind although it was not because of bodily discomfort. He felt no pain, his side was still numb and he could feel the remnants of the morphine in his blood. His whole world had narrowed down to the single goal of letting Lizzie get some rest, even thoughts of what waited for him as soon as he had to get up and face the world could not trouble him right then and there.

The minutes trickled by and just as Dick was about to check his watch for the time, the curtain around his bed suddenly swished open, revealing Dr. Paul Coombs. If the situation had not been so awkward, Dick might have felt amused at the astonishment on the doctor's face, but he was sure he probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights, too.

After a short silence that felt pretty much like eternity in Dick's estimation, Dr. Coombs just shook his head, muttering, "I'll come back in ten minutes."

With that, he drew the curtain close again. Dick lost no time and went about to wake Lizzie, who had slept through the encounter.

"Hey, it's time to wake up", he told her softly, nudging her shoulder. "Maybe snuggling up with your patients really does look odd."

"Hmm?", she sighed, then stretched her body. One of her feet touched Dick's thigh and he used all his willpower to not twitch away from the tension that sensation created. "Is it six o'clock already?"

"Yeah, in a few minutes", Dick replied wryly. "But you got to move, Dr. Coombs was here."

"What?", she exclaimed, suddenly wide awake. "Greta was here?"

"No, her husband."

"Okay, that's not much better. What did he say?", she inquired while getting up.

"That he'd be back in ten minutes. Just that", Dick answered, also getting out of bed. There was no way he would be able to go back to sleep after having Lizzie so close to him for an hour and then being surprised by the doctor. He might as well get ready for the day.

"Shit", was Lizzie's matter-of-fact response. "I hope he's too embarrassed to give me hell. Hey, what are you doing out of bed? Get back in there."

"I'll need to be up soon anyway", he replied.

"How's your side?", she softly inquired.

"Still numb. I can't feel much", he answered, trying out his range by bending down and stretching his back. There was a tweak of pain at that, but he had expected it to be much worse.

"Come back here after you're done with whatever is so urgent to require your presence while still on sick leave", Lizzie said, a frown coming to rest on her brow. "Greta wants to make sure everything is fine."

"Okay, I'll come back", he promised, although reluctantly. There was so much to do, he hardly had time for another check-up. But he realized he was not forgiven yet for his tightlipped behavior the night before, so he at least tried not to aggravate her any more by going against her directive.

"See you later, then", she replied with a tiny smile and a nod, before she walked away.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was shortly before nine when Dick walked down the corridor of HQ to the small hall that had been converted to a courtroom. When he entered the antechamber, he saw Bull, Talbert, Grant, Guarnere, Martin, Liebgott and Cobb sitting on narrow benches on the right side of the room, while the infantry soldiers that had been involved in the fight sat on the left side. An MP sergeant and six soldiers kept guard between them. The Easy men got up from their benches when Dick passed them by and saluted. Dick returned their salute and forced himself to give them a small reassuring smile, because they all looked tense and rather nervous. However, he was not supposed to talk with them before the meeting, so he just walked on and entered the courtroom.

Sink and Horton were already there, as well as the MP officer Gregory West that had been on duty the night before. The other lieutenant wordlessly appointed Dick a seat up front. On the other side of the room sat the CO and higher officers of the accused infantry soldiers. After another minute or two, Sobel came in with Shames. Sobel just ignored Dick and took a seat beside Horton, while Shames went to sit down beside Dick.

"You got your belly patched up?", Shames asked with a smirk instead of a greeting.

Since Dick had sworn beforehand to not let himself be taunted again and to stay calm, he nodded his head and answered impassively, "Yes, nice of you to ask."

Shames obviously was not a friend of irony, because Dick's answer made him scowl and he resorted to ignore him from then on, which gave Dick some satisfaction for his success in shutting up Shames.

After a few more minutes, another officer came in, who looked rather mousy with his thick glasses and seemed to spend most of his time behind a desk. Dick guessed he was a member of the court and was sent to oversee this preliminary meeting. Sink opened the meeting by reading down a list of the alleged crimes of the different soldiers. Then Dick was asked to tell his account of the incident, which he did minutely. Although he wished for his Easy men to get off lightly, he did not whitewash his men's involvement, but stated everything exactly as he had seen and heard.

"But, Lieutenant Winters", the infantry major addressed Dick sternly after he had finished his report, "you're not exactly a neutral observer, are you? These are your men we're talking about. Every officer tries to make his own soldiers look as good as possible."

"Sir", Dick answered coolly, "I swear I speak only the truth. My highest goal isn't to have my men escape punishment, but for them to receive a just trial. I never said all of them are innocent."

"And how can we believe you?", the major asked again, almost skewering Dick with dark eyes.

Just as Dick was searching for an answer that was both respectful and made clear that he did not like to be accused as a liar, he received help from an unexpected side.

"Lieutenant Winter's report is supported by the testimony of the barkeeper", Lieutenant West intervened and gave Dick an approving nod. "And the statements of Sergeant Lipton are consistent with both Lieutenant Winters' and the barkeeper's account of what happened. Sir, as far as I can tell, all that Lieutenant Winters says is true."

Dick returned the nod of the of the other lieutenant, suddenly realizing that maybe he had found a kindred spirit in West, who seemed dedicated enough to ignore all the intrigues that took place daily in the higher ranks of the army.

"Thank you for your assessment, Lieutenant West", Colonel Sink said with a small smile. "I don't think a court-martial is necessary for the paratroopers of company E. They'll receive an adequate punishment all the same."

Dick found himself release a pent up breath. While Sink, Horton and Sobel discussed a fair punishment for the transgressions, Dick gently pressed a hand to his side. His abdomen was waking up from its comfortable numbness and started to throb more viciously with every passing minute. Maybe it was not all that bad that he had promised Lizzie to get back to hospital as soon as he was done here. He could spend the day in bed with her close by and receive some pampering from her soft hands...

With his thoughts wandering, Dick almost missed the pronouncement of the sentences for the Easy men. Bull, Grant and Talbert were declared innocent and received no punishment, while Guarnere, Martin, Liebgott and Cobb were penalized with the reduction of one paygrade. However, Guarnere received a warning that he would be busted back to private if there was one more minor transgression on his part, because this was his second punishment in the span of six months. They still got off lightly. It was decided that the infantry men in turn would face court-martial, for their crimes were judged as being more severe.

The meeting was closed and Dick got up immediately. He had no desire to sit beside Shames only one moment longer than he absolutely had to and he wanted to see his men before he went back to the hospital. But first there was something else he needed to do.

"Lieutenant West?", Dick addressed the other officer, who was packing together his things. "I was very grateful for your support and you have my thanks for it."

"It's no trouble", West answered simply and gave a minute nod. "It isn't anything personal, it's my job to find out who's saying the truth and who isn't. I'm on no one's side."

"That's exactly what I'm thanking you for", Dick replied and he saw the other give a short smile at that.

"Then I accept your thanks", West replied. "Let's just hope we won't see each other again too soon."

"Or at least not under similar circumstances", Dick answered, giving a small smile, before West nodded again and left towards the exit.

Just as Dick wanted to leave the courtroom, another voice held him back.

"Lieutenant Winters?", Sink called for him. "A short word, please."

"Yes, sir", Dick answered and slowly walked back to the colonel. The hall had completely emptied besides Sink and him, and Dick gingerly lowered himself on the chair the colonel had gestured to.

"Two things", Sink began, coming straight to the point. "First, I wanted to let you know I'm glad you were there with the men last night and prevented them from doing something even more stupid. It seems like Easy is a bit struggling at the moment with its assignments and it wouldn't have looked very good if there had been a court-martial on top of it all."

"I only did my job, sir", Dick answered and funnily enough found himself answering in almost the same way as West only minutes before.

"Yeah, you did, but you did it extraordinarily well. Like everything you do, which leads us to the second matter", Sink continued, the rare praise taking Dick by surprise. The colonel was usually quite tightlipped when it came to words of approval. And had he just imagined Sink's voice turning softer? "How would you like becoming a staff officer? I can offer you a position at intelligence for a few weeks and after that, I would eventually like to have you in operations. I was told you're a brilliant tactician."

Dick could do nothing more than stare at Sink. It was an honor to be considered as staff officer, but all that he could think of was that he would lose command of the Easy men. He did not want any other position, he was right where he belonged. Could Sink not see that he just wanted to get back to the men as quickly as he could?

"Sir, I'm very grateful for the offer", Dick replied slowly, forcing himself to say something because the silence had stretched too long. "But what about my current position as platoon leader? For more than a year I was trained to lead men in battle."

"I think you were able to get enough experience as a leader", Sink answered, face impassive so that Dick had no clue what the colonel was thinking. "Your career will certainly profit from being on the staff."

"We haven't even been to war yet, so I'm not sure I've gathered enough experience, sir", Dick replied. He realized too late that his voice had turned a tad desperate and he saw Sink narrowing his eyes at that. "Sir, with all due respect, I would like to stay with the men."

"Dammit, Dick, don't be obstinate!", Sink suddenly exclaimed, smashing a hand on the table. Dick also realized that the offer of the colonel had not actually been a question, but an order, nicely disguised. No one was really interested in his opinion and things had probably been settled already. The thought made him bite his lips in desperation. They were going to take Easy away from him!

"Sir, yes, sir", Dick answered quietly, fighting the urge to bury his face in his hands. "To whom do I owe the honor of being considered as staff member?"

"Captain Sobel recommended you", Sink replied more gently, the answer only confirming what Dick had suspected already. "He has requested Lieutenant Shames to be appointed permanently as leader of second platoon."

This had been Sobel's plan all along, Dick slowly realized. Sobel had been afraid of Dick's influence on the men right from the beginning and now he had found a way to transfer him out of the company. Shames was the perfect puppet for Sobel, they seemed to work together quite nicely. And now this so-called "promotion" would bind Dick to the desk somewhere far away from Easy. He pretty much felt like crying.

"Lieutenant Shames has failed his first solo-maneuver with second platoon, sir", Dick could not hold himself back from pointing out bitterly.

"Yes, I'm aware of that", Sink replied with slight annoyance. "This is why nothing is definitely settled yet. Major Horton first wants to make sure Lieutenant Shames is up to the task."

Then there still was hope, Dick thought. If only he could somehow get the men to...

"But Dick", Sink interrupted his thoughts, looking at him sharply, "Lieutenant Shames accused you of flirting with fraternization when it comes to the enlisted men and Sobel supported him in that notion. Shames said it was your fault he has failed the maneuver, because you've convinced the men to only listen to you..."

"Sir, that's not true!", Dick blurted out, the wrong accusation stirring up his blood.

"Don't interrupt me!", Sink snapped with eyes blazing, getting Dick to shut up immediately. "I didn't say they are right or we would discuss this matter at court-martial instead of me offering you a position at staff. But their suspicions are enough to have me convinced that everyone would profit from separating you for a time from the men of Easy company. Some distance will do you good, because it's really difficult for a new officer like Shames to get on with these men that only count the days until you're back. Besides, you're still on sick leave and intelligence would be happy to have someone help them out."

Sink's voice had turned gentle, almost fatherly, and Dick knew that the colonel did what he thought was best for the company. And still, Sink was so completely wrong! Dick did not dare to imagine the Easy men's reaction to this news. This could destroy everything.

"Dick, have I been clear enough?", Sink asked.

"Yes, sir", Dick answered meekly.

"Good", the colonel said, giving him what was supposed to be an encouraging smile. "You'll start working in intelligence as soon as you're cleared for light duty. Shames will stay on a two-month trial period with second platoon of Easy company. If he succeeds this trial period and Horton is content, he'll receive permanent command of second platoon."

"Yes, sir", Dick answered again, voice turning into a whisper.

"That's all, then", Sink concluded their talk and they both got up simultaneously. Dick saluted him and he received a salute in return, then the colonel walked out of the room.

Feeling his twenty-six years weigh double and threefold on his shoulders, Dick slowly exited the courtroom. In the antechamber, the Easy men together with Nix had waited for him to come out. They were smiling widely, the relief of their light punishment clearly visible on their faces. Seeing them approach him cheerfully sent a fierce stab of pain to Dick's heart. They did not know yet and he was unable to tell them right now.

"Thanks for the support, sir, we would've...", Liebgott began grinningly, but Dick cut him off right away.

"It's okay, I'm glad you got off lightly", he told them tonelessly, then looked to Nix. "Lew, can you drive me to our billet? I don't feel so good."

"Weren't you supposed to go back to the hospital?", his friend asked with raised eyebrows, his eyes shining worriedly.

"Just take me to the Barnes, please", Dick begged. He was not fit for any company right now.

A stunned silence followed Dick to the door and he was relieved he could leave the presence of his men... his friends. He might never have the pleasure of training with them again and that thought hurt more than he would ever have imagined.

-tbc-

**I hope there's someone reading this out there in the far world who doesn't hate me right now... :-)**


	12. Chapter 12

_Hey wonderful readers and reviewers, thanks so very much for your support and nice reviews! They make me so very happy! :-)))_

_**Jayden **__(Hell yeah, Dick definitely needs to be the leader of Easy and I'll do my best to get him back there. ;-) Hehe, Lizzie and Dick are definitely getting friendly, even more so in this chapter...), __**beth-rodrigues.77 **__(Hehe, yeah, I know I'm evil, I admit it. :-) But then I also love to make Dick happy, in due time. *g* Yes, it's kind of Sink's fault, but he really meant well, he just misinterpreted things. And yeees, Lizzie is very worried, because she cares very much about our Dick. :-))) I'm so happy to hear you think it's hard not to get involved in the story, you're such a sweetheart! :-))) And yeah, I'll try to be nicer to Dick, I promise. *g*), __**AnimeGirl 144**__ (Hehe, very glad to hear you're interested in the men's reaction to Dick's transfer, because that's partially what this chapter is about. I hope you're happy with it! :-) So happy to hear you appreciate the slow build-up of Dick and Lizzie's relationship, because I was a bit worried a few chapters ago if it was going too slow. But then again, I totally agree that there are just OC stories that work out very nicely and there are others that maybe progress a bit too shallowly and too fast. Good that your school offers a WWII class! I knew I was very interested in all things concerning WWII when I was in high-school (at least kind of high-school, school system here is a bit different), then there was a time when I couldn't hear anything about it anymore, because it seemed like WWII was the only historical event that everyone talked about. And now I'm back to excited again. :-))) And yeees, you're definitely right, this chapter is very much filled with feels, hope you like it!), __**ChocAndSnow19 **__(So glad you're not mad at me, I surely would have missed your wonderful reviews! :-) Yeah, the silver lining is definitely coming closer... :-))) I also love to make Dick happy and we're slowly getting there. So happy to hear you loved the part where Dr. Coombs surprised Dick and Lizzie. :-)), __**ScarletLeon **__(Haha, I had to laugh so hard when you mentioned "Dizzie tension"! *lol* This is just great, it fits them so well. Then you'll be happy to hear that there's even more "Dizzie tension" in this chappie... *g* Besides, I'm so glad you decided not to hate me... :-) So happy you love Lizzie and her reactions and everything! Thanks for this great review, you really made me grin like a fool in front of my computer!) and __**coffee14 **__(Hey and welcome to the story! So happy to hear you like the story and you think my English skills aren't too bad. I know I can get even better and I'm also aware that I'm still making mistakes, but then I really do my best. So glad you enjoyed the story so far and I hope to hear from you again!)._

_Here's chapter twelve (already!) and I know it's a bit shorter than the last ones, but then I hope you'll like it all the same. Enjoy!_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The door was still closed. Nix looked up from where he sat on his bed for the fifth time in as many minutes, but there was no change and the report on his lap did not yet want to write itself. Sighing, he got up from the narrow mattress and walked through the small room (painted pink...) that had formerly belonged to Elaine to the other room at the end of the corridor. The door was closed firmly, like a bulwark, already for hours at an end. Nix decided to give it a last try and knocked.

"Dick?", he called softly. "Are you sure you don't want to eat anything? The Barnes have prepared some sandwiches, just in case you get hungry in the night."

The silence stretched and just before Nix decided to give up, he heard his friend's low voice through the door, "Thanks, but I'm not hungry."

"Okay, but if you want to eat something anyway, the sandwiches are on the table in the kitchen", Nix replied and when he got no answer, he slowly walked back to his room.

Mrs. Barnes had tried to get Dick downstairs, so had Nix and even Elaine was unsuccessful in luring his friend out of his room. Nix had no idea what he was doing in there for hours at an end, maybe staring at the wall and fantasizing about how to kill Shames and Sobel in the most painful ways. It had taken Nix quite some coaxing to get the story out of Dick on their way home from the meeting. His friend had told him about his transfer in two or three toneless sentences, while Nix had spent the rest of their way home swearing in the most colorful ways that he could think of. Not that this had helped Dick, his friend had just sat rigidly on his seat, paralyzed by the news of his transfer. If circumstances had been different, Nix would have looked forward to Dick joining him as staff officer in intelligence, but he knew exactly how much command of second platoon of Easy meant to his friend. Dick was born to be a leader and he loved to train the boys, which was why it almost broke Nix's heart to see command of Easy taken away from him.

If only Nix could do something to help his friend. But if the transfer order came right from Sink, there was not much they could do, beside praying for a sudden accident that involved a certain CO and lieutenant from Easy company. It would all have been much easier if Dick had been a drinker, at least Nix could have suggested to get fully and godlessly smashed this evening. He had done so a few months ago when Harry had been heartsick because of his girlfriend breaking up with him. But since this option was out of question for Dick and his friend had literally shut him out, Nix was at an end of his wits. If only Dick would talk to him...

A sudden idea came to Nix's mind. Well, just because his friend refused to talk to _him_ did not mean that he would refuse to talk to someone else that was close to him. Some female company could never hurt to soothe the anguish of a troubled mind. The more he thought about it, the better he liked the idea of bringing Lizzie into the play. She would be worried senseless anyway at this point, since Dick had failed to show up at the hospital, so Nix might as well visit her in person and maybe give her a nudge in the right direction. There was no way he could just let his friend mope around all day, especially since nothing was definitely lost yet. But since Dick was much too stubborn to pay attention to the wisdom Nix dealt out on a daily base, his friend might at least listen to someone else.

Getting up from the bed again, Nix grabbed the car keys and went downstairs, where he met Mrs. Barnes.

"Will he eat something now?", the elderly woman asked him with concern written all over her kind face.

"No, I'm afraid he still refuses to be reasonable", Nix answered forthrightly, pulling on his shoes. "I'm going to see if I find someone that will be able knock some sense in that hard head of his."

Mrs. Barnes gave a small smile and a nod.

In less than fifteen minutes Nix reached the hospital. The sun had set already. With a big brown envelope under his arm he walked the short distance to the entrance in a misty darkness that swallowed every sound. Warmth welcomed him when he stepped into the hospital and began his search for Lizzie. He finally found her feeding a young private, who had broken both his arms. He kept himself in the background and waited for her to finish.

"Lieutenant Weiss", he formally addressed her when she turned around. "Could I have a short word with you?"

"Lieutenant Nixon", she replied with surprise in her voice, looking at him out of big brown eyes that instantly started to shine with worry. "Of course, I'll be with you in a moment."

She hurriedly packed together the dishes and disappeared for a short moment, only to come back to Nix in about the blink of an eye. She motioned with her head for the far end of the ward where no patients were anywhere in hearing range and he followed her silently.

"This is about Dick, isn't it?", she immediately started to fire questions at him. "Is he alright? Why didn't he show up? He promised me to come back. God, just tell me he's fine!"

"Calm down, Florence, and don't forget to breathe", Nix tried to soothe her in a gentle voice that belied his teasing words. "He's fine... well, at least his wound isn't any worse than it has been before and he isn't sick. He's at our billet and resting... or at least he's not running around or something."

Lizzie stared at him out of wide eyes and he could practically see her mind trying to make sense of his rather cryptic answer.

"More trouble on the way for him?", she asked softly, searching his face for an answer. She was quick in putting two and two together, that much was obvious.

"Yeah, it's a bit rough going at the moment in our company", he answered and tried to send her a reassuring smile.

"Let me guess, you won't be able tell me what this is all about", she replied, sounding both frustrated and tired.

"Nope, I'm sorry", Nix answered, then placed the big brown envelope he carried on the nightstand. "It's really such a shame that I was so scatterbrained to forget my envelope with classified reports and documents here at the hospital. It would be very nice of the medical team to come across this envelope and bring it back to me as quickly as they can. Luckily enough, I remembered to put the address of the billet I share with Dick on the back of the envelope." He flashed a grin at her openmouthed stare. "Have a nice evening, Lizzie."

He did not wait for an answer, but started walking towards the exit, then stopped and turned around, "Just in case you get curious, don't bother opening the envelope. In there is just last week's newspaper."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Do you think it'll go away on its own, doc?", Malarkey asked Gene and critically looked at his bare foot. A tiny corn decorated Malarkey's left foot, on the top of his smallest toe. "Could you sign me off sick? I'm sure I won't be able to run ten miles tomorrow."

"You're a sissy, Malark!", Guarnere butted in from the bed next to him and threw his sweaty undershirt at Malarkey's face, but the soldier was able to duck in time. "You'll get a full dose of Shames tomorrow just like the rest of us, no chickening out."

"You don't have a painful foot injury", Malarkey grumbled in return and looked again at Gene with a pitiful gaze.

"Forget it, Malarkey", Gene finally answered, suppressing a smile. He had never heard so many excuses to get away from duty as in the last four weeks. The boys were really trying to outdo themselves with their creativity in coming up with new ways of shirking their training. "I can give you a band-aid, that's all."

While Malarkey pulled a face, Luz joined their conversation by imitating an English lady in a high-pitched voice, "Oh dear, it seems I've tweaked my earlobe while hunting, I'll have to take the coach tomorrow since I cannot ride."

The sniggers of the rest of the boys filled the barracks. Gene was glad to see them cheerful once again, they had not had much to smile about lately. Just as he was about to suggest they get some sleep, because they had a strenuous day tomorrow, the door to their room opened and Lipton walked in.

"Hey sarge", Perconte greeted him with a grin. "You come back late. Don't tell me you found a willing English girl, too."

"No, I'm afraid the reasons I get back only now aren't so pleasant", Lipton answered somberly, letting himself flop down on his bed heavily. This immediately dampened the formerly good mood of the men and Gene knew that he had to prepare himself for some more bad news. Again. What was it this time?

"What happened, Lip?", Guarnere asked with a frown and sat up straight on his bed.

"If I tell you now, you probably won't get much sleep tonight", Lipton answered slowly and ran a hand over his face, "so it would probably be better to tell you tomorrow."

Shouts of protest hailed down on Lipton while Luz pointed out meaningfully, "Sarge, do you really think we'll sleep better if all of us speculate about what could be so bad as for you to try and spare us from this news for a few more hours? Just spit it out."

Lipton sighed and nodded tiredly.

"Yeah, ok", he gave in. "I try to make this as painless as possible: Winters won't come back. We're stuck with Shames."

Gene stared at Lipton openmouthed, telling himself that he would snap out of this nightmare at any second now and awake in his bed back home. An eerie silence had spread in the barracks.

"This fucking can't be true!", Guarnere finally ground out and got up from his bed. Everyone else was still too shocked to say anything.

"It's true, I just talked to Sobel", Lipton answered and for the first time Gene thought to hear something like hopelessness in his voice. "Winters was transferred to staff and Shames wanted to stay with Easy instead of going back to Dog. Some new Westpointer will take over his position there."

"This fucking hypocrite!", Guarnere suddenly snarled, aiming a kick at some poor guy's backpack that was randomly standing in his way.

"Who? Sobel?", Lipton asked with some confusion.

"Winters!", Guarnere answered angrily. "He fucking tells us to hold on, that he'd be back in no time, mighty savior of Easy, blabla... Bullshit! Someone just has to wave a staff commission in front of his nose and he jumps it like a bitch in heat. I fucking can't believe it!"

"Calm down, Bill", Lipton told him sternly. "You don't know what happened, he might not have had much choice."

"I'll tell you exactly what happened", Guarnere replied with blazing eyes. "He abandoned us for a better position and a step higher up on the career ladder, that's what happened. We're fools for having believed that Easy actually mattered to him."

"Winters doesn't care for a career", Gene found himself suddenly piping up in his former lieutenant's defense. "I won't believe he just left us out of free will."

"Yeah?", Luz asked scathingly, obviously taking Guarnere's side. "How do you know that? He told you when you went on a picnic together? He took you to the opera?"

"Shut your mouth, Luz", Gene snarled, anger rising in him. "You fucking can't know..."

"That's enough, boys!", Lipton interrupted sharply. By now everyone had got out of bed, the dorm was practically buzzing with the pent up emotions of the forty-two men of second platoon. "There is no point in fighting against each other now or Shames will already have won. We're Easy company and we're brothers in this, I won't have any aggression in here. We need to stand even closer together than we have before, alright?"

"I need a beer", Guarnere muttered, throwing on his coat. "You can have your little peace chitchat here, Lip, but I'm not in the mood for this."

"Bill", Lipton tried to hold the other sergeant back. "If they see you out of the barracks and drinking alcohol, they'll bust you back to private. Stay, please."

"They can fucking bust me back to private all they want", Guarnere replied roughly on his way out. "It would be a fucking relief to be discharged from this company right now."

With that he pushed open the door and left. Luz looked to Toye, Liebgott and three other privates standing right beside him, giving them a nod, then the small group walked out after Guarnere. So this was how everything fell apart, Gene thought to himself. He saw Lipton watching the door falling shut, looking crestfallen, and he truly felt with the sergeant.

"Lip", Grant called out softly to the other sergeant and placed a hand on the other's shoulder. "They'll calm down on their own and will be back in no time."

"Yeah, sure", Lipton replied, forcing himself to give Grant a tight smile.

Suddenly Bull walked up to the two sergeant with a thoughtful expression on his face, then his gaze found Gene's.

"I think Doc's right", he said unhurriedly. "Winters wouldn't just turn his back on us like that, that's not like him." He paused, then he looked to Grant. "Chuck, you've been there this morning in the room outside court with me. Winters's been acting strange when he came out, surely not like someone who's just got what he wished for."

"Yeah... true", Grant slowly replied, blinking rapidly while trying to remember more precisely. "He looked pretty downcast and he'd been talking to Sink, so he must have heard about his transfer right then and there... And if Winters isn't happy about being on staff, then maybe someone else is behind everything."

"Sobel", Gene muttered softly and the others all nodded in unison. Yes, this was the most logical explanation for what had transpired. Sobel had felt threatened by Winters since they had started field maneuvers and Winters had shown himself more capable of staying calm and rational than Sobel, who was prone to lose his head quite quickly. Getting rid of Winters had probably been what Sobel had wanted to do for a long time.

"So everything is definitely settled already?", Grant asked Lipton.

"Yeah", Lipton replied with a sigh. "Sobel said it's all pretty instant. Winters will be working in battalion intelligence as soon as he's cleared for duty."

"What if Shames fails another solo-maneuver?", Gene asked slowly, looking hesitantly at the other men around him.

"Yeah, what about that?", Perconte took up the question and looked expectantly at Lipton.

"I don't think Sobel will abandon him all that quickly", Lipton replied. "But I don't know what'll happen if Shames fails two or three more maneuvers."

A thoughtful silence followed and Gene noticed the hesitant, but hopeful glances the men gave each other. These were dangerous thoughts that could get them into a lot of trouble. They were at war, military law could have them shot for purposely disobeying a superior, since it would not take much to interpret their actions as mutiny. They would need to tread very carefully.

"We got to talk to Winters", Grant suggested. "Maybe he knows more than we do."

"We have no more business with him", Gene pointed out with a frown, feeling the need to caution them from doing something rash. "It could be dangerous to be seen with him now."

"Yeah", Lipton replied slowly. "But Chuck's right, we need to see Winters. But then we can't just walk up to his billet and knock, this would raise suspicions. Since he's still on sick leave he'll stay in the house most of the time."

"He goes to the hospital for check-ups", Grant suggested with a shrug of his shoulders.

"That's it, Chuck", Lipton answered, a smile starting to shine through. "We'll see that we can talk to him next time he goes to the hospital."

Murmurs of consent were to be heard from the men and Gene had the hopeful feeling that maybe not everything was lost yet.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dick read his own handwritten notice that was lying on his desk, then suddenly shook his head and tore it apart, throwing the shreds in the trash. How could his resignation help anyone in this situation? Yeah, just giving up was tempting, since he felt no desire at all to stay on the base and maybe come across his former Easy men training with someone else two or three times a week. However, handing in his resignation was a childish and selfish move. There was a war going on and he had to help in whatever way he could and in whatever position his superiors thought adequate.

Sighing, he got up from the chair to stand before his bed. It was getting really late and he should try to catch some sleep, but he knew that his mind was still too preoccupied to let him find some rest. Usually he would just get his worries out of his system by running ten or fifteen miles, but he knew this was a bad idea with his newly patched up side. So he was confined to this small room at the Barnes, resorting to walking back and forth in front of his bed. Should he try and contact the Easy men? What could he do to help? Maybe he should try and talk to Shames. Scratch that, Dick thought, this would not lead anywhere, beside a bleeding nose for Shames. Damn it, he could not think of one single idea how to go on from here.

A soft rap on the door woke him from his thoughts and he frowned. Hell, could not Nix just leave him alone for a few hours?

"Lew, I'm not hungry and I won't come down", he called out, starting to get annoyed with his friend's constant badgering.

"Dick, it's me", a slightly husky, feminine voice was heard through the door, taking him by surprise.

"Lizzie!", he exclaimed and slowly approached the closed door. "What are you doing here?"

"Nixon forgot some reports in the hospital, so I thought I would bring them back to him since they looked very important", she explained in a rushed voice. Dick frowned at that. Despite what everyone thought of Nix and his bad habits, it was very unlike his friend to just misplace his reports. "I thought since I'm here, I'd check on you. You didn't return to the hospital."

"Look, I'm very busy right now", he tried to explain. He fervently hoped she would somehow understand and forgive his lie, because it was no easy thing to just send her away. After all, he had longed for her company in the last few days more than once.

"Can't you just open the door for a minute?", she asked, annoyance creeping into her voice. "It's kind of strange talking to the door."

He sighed softly to himself, then opened the door. Lizzie snapped up her head at that and looked a bit surprised that he had complied that easily. She was still wearing her blue dress and her nurse cap, she probably came directly from the hospital. Her brown eyes studied him intently and a slight frown came to rest on her brow.

"I'm fine, Lizzie", he told her and forced a small smile on his lips to try and make it more convincing. The long look she gave him told him everything he needed to know about his acting skills.

"Yeah, you're positively radiating joy, happiness and good mood", she replied ironically, taking a step closer to him. She gave him a questioning look and motioned with her head for his room. Sighing again, Dick gave in and let her in his room, closing the door behind her. She gave his room a quick glance, then her look came to rest on the empty desk and the paper shreds in the trash.

"So, what are you working on?", she asked with raised eyebrows that told him she had not bought his excuse of being busy.

"Well, it's...", he tried to explain, then suddenly decided to be honest. "I'm not really working on something, but I have many things on my mind that I need to think about."

"A problem shared is a problem halved", she suggested with a tentative smile that gently showed her dimples. Dick loved that smile and how she looked at him under her thick dark lashes. Her hair was messy as always, but that was what he loved that about her just as much as everything else. Her eyes showed a soft brown color, that reminded him of the rich, dark earth back home.

"I can't tell you", he told her quietly, watching her mouth being pursed into a thin line and her eyes turning from a soft brown into a dark grey.

"I'm not saying you have to tell me all the details or betray your superiors", she answered impatiently. "But have you noticed that you never tell me anything about yourself?"

"It's not my own decision, Lizzie", he tried to explain. Why was she so adamant about this? "And I told you things about myself, like... like my sister's wedding."

"I came across her letter and you were pretty much forced to tell me", she reminded him with a frown. "I don't know anything about you. I don't know what you were doing before you went to the army, I don't know what are your goals in life, I don't even know if you have a girlfriend back at home!"

"I'd have told you if I did", he replied slowly, watching her intently.

"But how could I know that?", she asked, starting to pace. "You're nice and happy and wonderful one day, the other day you look like you might shoot someone and refuse to talk to me and I have no idea what's going on! I don't get you, Dick, and that's because you don't let anyone get close to you."

"Lizzie, I've let you get closer than you think", he told her fervently and watched her walking up and down in front of him. She had her arms crossed and gave him a frustrated look out of narrowed eyes.

"Yeah?", she asked, coming to a halt right in front of him. Her face was very close to his and he could see every single lash on her eyelids. He had been wrong, he realized with wonder, her eyes were not just brown but held all kind of colors: yellow, blue, green... "I fucking told you about my brother, about my father, I practically cried my heart out in front of you and you can't even tell me what's going on! You just hide in your room, doing what? Hoping the problems will go away on their own? I was fucking worried about you, you get that? You promised me to be back, but you didn't and you didn't let me know!"

"I'm sorry about that", he told her quietly. He could see her eyes – still so very close to his – narrow even more at that.

"I think I was right", she replied in a dangerously low voice. "You don't care, Dick. You don't care about others. About me."

"That's not true!", he denied almost desperately, for the first time raising his voice. There were many things one could accuse him of, but he cared about her with every fiber of his body.

"I don't believe you", she answered in a whisper, her mouth trembling slightly and her chest heaving under her strained breathing. She lifted her eyes, her wild gaze colliding with his.

It was too much, Dick could not take it anymore. Before he knew what happened, his mouth crashed down on hers, catching her soft lips in a deep kiss.

-tbc-


	13. Chapter 13

_Hello everyone! It's so wonderful to see how many of you take the time to review, you're awesome!_

_**Beth-rodrigues.77 **__(Hehe, you're probably the most loyal Lizzie-fan out there, I'm so happy you like her and the kiss she shared with Dick. Yeah, I think it was hard for the boys, to be stuck with Shames (or at least they think they are...), but then you're right in believing there are better days to come... :-))) Loved your review!), __**AnimeGirl 144 **__(Yes, the guys have to suffer a bit in this story, all of them. But since I won't make this story totally AU, they'll eventually be back with Winters again, so no need to worry. :-))) So glad you liked the last chapter, despite its dreariness!), __**coffee14 **__(Yeah, I think the guys were just very frustrated and disappointed (Guarnere most of all, I just love to write him) to think Winters would betray them. But sure we have others there to keep the company together. :-))) Sooo happy you liked the kiss! :-))), __**ChocAndSnow19 **__(I loved that you thought the kiss scene was well written, I was sitting quite a long time over that one until I was more or less content. :-)) And yeah, things will get better, I can finally promise that. :-)) But I can't guarantee for how long, the evil streak in me likes to be fed... :-))) And yes, certainly, everything the boys do now is a dangerous game and they know it. As to Nix: I won't say anything right now, but I loved that you thought about him first. *lol* When it comes to doing something daring and illegal, Nix comes to mind. *lol* Hehe, you're welcome, about Gene in the last chapter. I'm just not as confident when writing from his perspective than from writing Lizzie's or Dick's POV, but I'm all the happier when you think it's alright the way I wrote Gene. Have a lovely day/week, too!), __**Jayden **__(Hehe, so glad I could make your day again, hopefully I'll succeed again with this chapter! :-)) Yeah, Bill is just much too distrustful when it comes to Dick, but it's so much fun to write him. So happy you loved the ending. :-))), __**ScarletLeon **__(No, I'm not at all tired of you reviewing, I just love your reviews, they always make me smile! :-))) So glad to hear you loved Nix and the boys. Hehe, and very happy to hear you loved the kiss. More of that in this chapter...:-)))._

_I know I was a bit tough on our dear boys (and girls) in the last few chapters, that's why we finally get to a more lighthearted intermezzo. The chapter is again rather short, but this way I can keep up my update schedule. Hope you enjoy! _

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lizzie had been really mad at Dick, no, she had been downright furious. Just as she had been ready to turn around and just leave him in his uptight, closed off mood, he had completely shocked her by leaning down and kissing her. And what a kiss it was! Passionate and deep, maybe a tad desperate, without holding back or hesitation. It stole her breath away and for a moment she was too stunned to do anything else than just experience the sensation of his wonderful, amazing lips on hers. Then instinct took over and she kissed him back, opening her lips to let him in, which he did immediately. She suddenly felt his hands on her back, drawing her close to him, and she could feel his body on hers full length. A small moan of desire escaped her lips and her teeth started nibbling his lips, while his hands roamed over her body.

God, he felt gorgeous! She felt every part of her body pulsating madly under his touch and leant even more heavily into the kiss, which elicited a low growl from his throat. Before she knew it, her hands were exploring his neck, his back and his nicely shaped butt. He guided her backwards while still kissing her and she suddenly felt something soft bump into the hollows of her knees. Forcing open her eyes, she saw that they were standing in front his bed and he slowly leaned even more into her, making clear where he wanted her to be. Maybe it was that she became aware of the desperation in his kiss or the slightly frantic touch of his fingers, but she suddenly realized that he was deeply troubled and not thinking all that rationally. And that he would deeply regret it if they progressed too far too fast.

"Dick, slow down", she whispered, swallowing heavily. Damn it, her own treacherous body was practically panting after his touch and would have rejoiced in feeling him even closer, as close as possible! It did not make staying reasonable any easier. However, she cared for him too much to just let one moment of passion destroy what they had built up together.

He did not seem to hear her, but continued kissing her even more fervently. Lizzie had to suppress a moan when his hands started roaming over her breasts.

"Dick, stop", she repeated breathlessly, already on the verge of just giving in to what her body demanded.

Somehow she reached him and he suddenly pulled back from the kiss. While she already missed his touch on her skin, she could see him coming to his senses and a look of horror spread over his face. Before she could say anything, he broke away from her and walked over to the desk, turning his back to her. She could hear him breathing heavily and saw him run both his hands over his face. Lizzie, too, needed a few moments to compose herself and sat down on the bed, feeling all jittery and confused with her hormones more than ready to party on. God, she needed a cold shower, right now!

"I'm so sorry, Lizzie", Dick apologized ardently while turning back to her, still looking mortified. "This is so inappropriate, I don't know what came over me. I.. I can't tell you how ashamed I am of myself right now."

It was totally unnecessary that he was beating himself up over the kiss. She got up from the bed and slowly walked towards him, but he was retreating a few more steps away from her into the corner of the room.

"Hey, it's okay", she tried to reassure him. He looked so downcast and guilty that she would have liked to give him a hug, but then he even shied away from her gaze, so this was probably not such a great idea. "Dick, you don't need to apologize, it's fine."

"It's not", he denied vehemently, staring at the ground. "I forced myself on you. This is intolerable."

"You didn't force yourself on me", she replied wryly. "You would've known if you did, because you would've felt my knee somewhere very painful before you could've even opened your lips. The kiss was wonderful, Dick."

He slowly lifted his gaze from the floor and looked at her hesitantly. His blue eyes shone with so many emotions: tenderness, hope, fear and a good portion of desperation. How could she have thought just moments before that he was impassive?

"You're troubled", she told him gently and took a small step towards him. "That's why I asked you to stop and not because I didn't like what you were doing. It felt like taking advantage of you when you're this upset."

A shaky snort came from his throat and his gaze suddenly turned wry.

"The way I see it, it's more like _I _was taking advantage of _you_", he replied uncertainly, quirking a tiny smile.

"Yeah, that's because you guys always think you're so totally in control of everything when you start kissing a girl", she answered lightly and received another short snort of amusement from him at that. "You're not, I tell you."

"I see", he slowly said and took a small step towards her. "I loved what _you_ did to _me_, then."

Lizzie could not help the peal of laughter she felt bubbling up inside her. This must be the most awkward talk she had ever had with a guy after they had just made out, although both were obviously giving their consent. It would probably take some time until Dick would shed his uptightness, if she would ever fully succeed in loosening him up. But then again, the kiss had told her that he was much more experienced with women than she had given him credit for. There was no doubt he knew what he was doing and her body had given full approval of his ministrations.

"This is so awkward", he finally sighed, voicing her exact thoughts. His comment and the rueful look he gave her sent Lizzie off laughing again. His hair was all messed up from her hands and he still looked slightly flushed from the kiss when he sent her a small smile that made her want to bubble over with warmth and affection for this man.

"Your very red hair is sticking up in all directions", she told him gently.

"Certainly not worse than yours", he replied drily. He reached out a hand and brushed a strand of her hair out of her face. The fleeting touch of his fingers on her cheek made her breath catch for a short moment and she looked at him spellbound. She could see that the closeness to her did not leave him unaffected either, because his lips were quivering, before he reigned in his emotions by pursing his mouth into a thin line.

All of a sudden he seemed deep in thought, his eyes far away, then he braced himself visibly and squared his shoulders. He gently took her hand, his fingers caressing her hand, before he led her over to the bed and sat her down on it. Puzzled, Lizzie let it happen and watched while he fetched the chair standing in front of his desk and went to sit opposite of her.

"Two things have happened", he slowly began and she realized that he was finally taking a leap of faith. "First, the men from my company and partly even from my platoon were involved in the bar fight I split up yesterday evening. This was why I was so irritated. I'm sorry I let it out on you. Second, today I was transferred out of my company to staff. This means I've lost command of the men I was training with for over a year and they're now stuck with a lieutenant who is totally incapable of leading them in battle."

When he told her about it, his voice was carefully neutral and she could only tell from his eyes how much the loss of command over his men must hurt him. Not knowing what else to do or say, she took one of his hands in her own and gently stroked his fingers. He looked down to her hand, then up into her eyes and there was again the desperation in his gaze that had made her stop the kiss. A sudden and heartfelt urge to help him, no matter the cost, rose in her.

"I'm very sorry to hear that", she said quietly, squeezing his hand. "Is there anything I can do?"

Somehow she had found a sore spot, because he jerked his hand away from her and got up to pace in front of her.

"No, there's nothing you can do", he bit out tautly. "There's nothing anyone can do, that's the problem."

"Dick, you're doing it again", Lizzie told him gently and gestured to the chair. "You're shutting me out instead of talking to me. Come on, sit down."

First it looked like he would refuse, then he sighed and came back to her, sinking down on the chair.

"My superiors pretty much accused me of manipulating the men so they would not accept any other officer's command", he continued tonelessly. "They're wrong. The men would accept any new leader, as long as he wouldn't get them killed the first moment they went into battle. It's not like they really need _me_, they just need a competent officer."

Lizzie believed him, she really did, but she could still see that he was protective of his men and that he would not want just anyone to lead them. It was probably rather difficult to find another officer that would make Dick content with the way he was leading. Despite their situation, she found herself biting her lips to suppress a smile. Dick really was a control freak.

"But can't they see that the new officer isn't up to the task?", Lizzie asked hesitantly, hoping she would not set him off again. She had met Shames after all and she had seen more about his shortcomings than Dick knew.

"Yeah, they see it alright", Dick answered with a derisive snort. "But the new one has the protection of my CO." He stopped, then muttered quietly, "Well, former CO. Still, staff put the new officer on a trial period of two months. If he fails, he loses command of second platoon again."

"But that's good, isn't it?", Lizzie asked, seeing a faint silver lining on the horizon.

"No, it's not", Dick answered roughly, then started staring at his hands. "I don't want the men to do anything stupid. Least of all for me."

She shook her head minutely at that. He was really something. Here she had thought he did not care about others and he had proven her completely wrong.

"So where have you been transferred to?", she asked him since he had made no mention of his future station.

"Intelligence", he replied with a deep scowl. "Sitting at a desk, reading letters, writing reports, looking at maps, doing crosswords while the men get shooed from one exercise to the other."

"Come on, it can't be that bad", Lizzie exclaimed while she had to smile at the look of contempt the word "desk" had produced on his face. "I would give my right hand to work at intelligence."

"It's not really all that exciting, believe me", he told her. "Nix loves it, meddling in other people's affairs, putting himself in the enemy's place and mind, comparing statements, drawing maps, planning routes and stuff."

"Sounds great to me", Lizzie replied with a small smile. "Want to change job with me?"

She was delighted to see him return her smile before he shook his head.

"No, definitely not", he answered. "I think it's great what you do, I really admire your work and the doctors' work at the hospital, but I could never do it myself. You always have to deal with sick, injured and wounded people, as soon as they get better, they leave. That's pretty hard, it would depress me."

"But then you have a hand in making them get better", Lizzie said cheerfully.

They sat a short while in silence, before Dick asked her hopefully, "Could you maybe get Dr. Coombs to clear me for light duty soon? I need to work, even if it only means writing reports, to get my mind off things."

"I'll talk to her", Lizzie promised, understanding his motivations better than ever. "And after all, I could just convince myself that you're well enough to... get physical, I guess."

This made him blush a brilliant shade of red and she snickered to herself, while he did not know where to look out of sheer embarrassment. Maybe she had some evil streak in herself, but she definitely enjoyed it way too much to make him uncomfortable. It was so adorable.

She decided to release him from his discomfiture and got up, saying, "It's getting late, I need to get back to the hospital and catch a few hours of sleep."

"Yeah, of course", he replied, still flushed, and got up as well. "I'll accompany you downstairs."

"Okay", she said lightly and turned towards him before he could open the door. "But I'll have to say my proper goodbye here."

With that she leaned in for another kiss. It was a gentle, innocent kiss, much different from the one they had shared before. Dick reacted to it anyway, his lips softly caressing hers while he cupped her face in his hands. Her body's response, however, was not all that different, his touch left her weak in the knees. He felt so good, she loved his slightly musky scent and the way his lips fitted so perfectly onto hers.

After some time and a considerable amount of restraint they separated again. His eyes opened almost at the same time as hers, a soft and dreamy look of wonder in them that woke the urge in her to kiss him again, only to perpetuate that look forever. She held herself back, however, and finally made a move to open the door, but his hand on hers stopped her.

"Wait", he bade her in a husky voice. "Just give me a moment... to collect myself."

It made her smile, warmth radiating from every part of her body. She leaned into him again, but this time just rested her head on his shoulder while he stroked her hair gently. It was all she could do not to sigh in contentment.

She finally pulled away, because it was really getting late, and gave him a questioning look that he answered with a single nod. She opened the door and silently walked down the stairs of the quiet house with Dick trailing after her. It was in the middle of the night and she hoped that everyone was sleeping. Light was coming from the kitchen and just before Dick opened the front door to let her out, Nix appeared in the kitchen doorway, radiating smugness and grinning so widely it almost split his face.

"Thanks again for bringing me back my reports, Florence", Nix drawled lazily, leaning on the doorway and waving the brown envelope.

Dick beside her looked so caught that he could probably only stammer if he opened his mouth now, so she took matters in her own hands and answered through her teeth, "It's no problem, Lieutenant Casanova, just try and keep a better eye on your things next time."

"Oh, I'm keeping a very vigilant eye on everything", he quipped while he gave them another self-complacent grin.

"Good for you", she answered, for once at a loss of a comeback, then turned to Dick. "I'll have to go now. Take care, ok?"

"Yeah, you too", was all Dick managed to get out under the watchful gaze of his friend. She gave him a smile and left the house.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Are you humming?", Greta asked suspiciously, suddenly appearing in the doorway of the storage room where Lizzie was taking stock of their medical supplies.

"No", Lizzie denied and made a show of shaking her head indignantly. Damn it, the song had been in her head since she had woken up this morning, but then she had thought she had only followed the tune in her mind. "I never hum, you know that."

"But you're in a good mood", her friend pointed out while watching Lizzie closely. "Normally you're all grumpy in the mornings, even more so when you had as few hours of sleep as you had last night. Where have you been anyway?"

"I told you already, I returned Lieutenant Nixon's reports", Lizzie answered, concentrating back on the shelf so she did not have to face her friend's probing gaze.

"And that took you more than two hours?", Greta asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, we chatted for a while", Lizzie replied and winced a bit to herself because of fibbing to her friend.

"True, since you're such good friends", Greta remarked ironically, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I don't believe one word of what you're saying, Lizzie Weiss. Come on, tell me the truth."

Lizzie sighed and stopped counting the bandages on the shelf in front of her. Her thoughts circled endlessly around the kiss she had shared with Dick last night, the memory making her whole body bubble with giddiness. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his face with that dreamy look in his gaze in front of her and all she wanted to do was just go back and kiss him again. And again. But then they had not talked about how they would proceed and it was certainly too early to proclaim them to be in a relationship. Maybe the kiss had been a one-time thing. She was sure she would bawl her eyes out if Dick told her something of that sort, because he had felt way too good to just go on with her life without feeling his touch on her skin ever again. Anyway, it seemed too early to tell anyone about it. Problem was that Greta had a sixth sense for sniffing out secrets.

"Lizzie, I'm your best friend", Greta cajoled softly, coming closer and shutting the door to the storage room behind her. "You used to tell me everything, remember? And I always told you everything in return, like that I'm pregnant and such. You know you can trust me."

Lizzie knew exactly what her friend was doing, Greta was trying to make her feel guilty. And Lizzie sighingly had to acknowledge that her friend was succeeding.

"If I tell you", Lizzie began slowly and saw Greta's eyes flashing victoriously, "will you promise to do me a favor in return?"

"And you won't specify what this favor will be?", her friend asked, looking slightly dubious.

"No", Lizzie answered, "you'll just have to trust me, I guess. But it's not such a big favor."

"Alright."

"Winters and I... we kissed", Lizzie finally revealed.

"I knew it!", Greta replied with a triumphant smile on her lips and Lizzie was slightly miffed to see that her friend did not look surprised at all. So much to her well kept secret. "Took you long enough to finally get that one going."

"It was that obvious?", Lizzie asked almost petulantly.

"You have no idea", Greta commented and sat down on a footstool. "You were mooning over him for weeks and I swear I couldn't stand the longing looks you gave him any longer. Or, for that matter, his looks for you."

"I wasn't mooning over him for weeks", Lizzie denied and scowled at her friend. "I know him only for a month and I'm sure I'd never have guessed from our beginning that we'd end up making out."

"So now it's making out already?", her clever friend pried, the knowing smile annoying Lizzie to no end. "And you were pretty smitten right from the beginning, then you somehow got it into your hard head that he's irritating, but I think you were just put out that he wasn't as bewitched with you as the rest of our patients in here and dared to defy you."

"That's not true!", Lizzie exclaimed, fumbling for words.

"Yeah, it is", Greta replied nonplussed, then leaned in curiously. "So, he's a good kisser?"

"Yes", Lizzie slowly answered and then suddenly could not hold back the silly smile that had threatened to break through all morning. "He's amazing! I thought he'd be a bit on the shy side, but then he was all of a sudden all over me... God, I almost lost it then and there!"

"Tell me more!", Greta urged her, beginning to giggle with excitement, and Lizzie had that vision of herself in sixth grade, telling her friends about her first experiences with fleeting pecks on the cheeks in summer camp.

"He was quite wild", Lizzie offered freely, "it could've gone _much_ further if I hadn't..."

Suddenly the door to the storage room opened and Paul stuck in his head.

"Here you are", he said, looking quite confusedly at them. Snapping up her head, Lizzie knew that she and Greta probably looked very much caught red-handed. "What are you doing in here?"

"Lizzie was taking stock of our supplies", Greta replied, biting on her lips to keep from laughing. "I'm helping her."

"Yeah, she's helping me", Lizzie supported her friend, but Greta probably thought that overdoing it, because she suddenly felt her friend's not so subtle elbow in her ribs.

"Never thought it'd take two people to do that", Paul mumbled to himself.

"Honey, I'll join you in a moment, alright?", Greta proposed smilingly.

"Yeah, sure", he replied absently and left them to themselves. The moment the door fell shut again, Greta and Lizzie looked at each other and burst out laughing. It took them quite some time to settle down again.

"God, I haven't laughed this hard in ages", Greta commented breathlessly, wiping away tears.

"Yeah, must've been before the war", Lizzie agreed and felt all of a sudden exhausted from all the emotions she had experienced in the last twenty-four hours. "It's not even all that funny."

"No", her friend said. "But then I could picture us sitting in here in the dark and gossiping like some teenagers... And the look on Paul's face!"

They giggled again.

"Well, let's just say that the kiss was awesome", Lizzie finally ended her interrupted story. "I just hope he won't tell me next time I see him that he regrets everything."

"He better not", Greta replied with a dangerous undertone. "I promised your father to look out for you, so he'd better not break your heart."

"Thanks, Greta", Lizzie answered with a smile.

"And use protection, if... you know", her friend cautioned her with raised eyebrows, making Lizzie groan and roll her eyes. Sometimes she was not so sure if Greta was her best friend or her mother. Probably both.

"Says the one with the big belly", Lizzie pointed out meaningfully. "I know about that, someone gave me that talk years ago."

"Yeah, I know", Greta replied, sounding a bit rueful. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. At least Winters is a decent man and he looks very sensible, so I probably needn't worry."

"Not to forget I'm not sixteen anymore, either", Lizzie remembered her friend and shook her head in exasperation. "You barely know him, but you trust him to be more reasonable than I am?"

"Yeah", Greta answered matter-of-factly. "Just as you said: I know you quite well. And I know that quick temper of yours that can get you into trouble sooner than you can blink your eyes."

"I'm glad you think so highly of me", Lizzie replied with a sigh, but at the same time she could not keep the grin from her face.

"So what was it you wanted from me in return for spilling your heart-rending little story?", her friend asked.

"Clear Winters for light duty", Lizzie answered and watched her friend narrow her eyes. "I know you wanted to wait another week or two, since he tore his stitches two days ago, but he's ready for it now. The longer you wait the more impatient he'll get and at least this way someone can keep an eye on him."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea", Greta stated reluctantly. "The army will have him back soon enough as it is."

"You promised", Lizzie remembered her.

"Alright, I'll do it", her friend gave in, but she did not look too happy about it. "He's pretty much your responsibility now. When is his next check-up?"

"Tomorrow evening."

"Okay, I'll have the clearance ready by tomorrow then", Greta promised, then got up with a groan from her footstool. "I have to head back, Paul is probably wondering already what kept me so long."

"Thanks, Greta", Lizzie said, feeling grateful for her friend's compliance.

Greta just gave a nod, then headed to the door, before she turned around again.

"Oh, before I forget it: Who do you think will get their vaccinations tomorrow?"

"How should I know?", Lizzie replied, shrugging. "Weepy Peter and Sniveling Jack?"

The two nicknamed soldiers from the Ranger battalion who had crashed their car and were annoying the hell out of the medical personnel were the first people who came to her mind.

"No", Greta answered impatiently. "Paratroopers, 506th, Company E. Let's see if Winters' boys are as stoic as he when pricked with a needle."

Lizzie forced herself to give a smile and watched her friend leave the storage room. Of course Greta could not know that these paratroopers were not Dick's men anymore. In her elation about the kiss she had almost forgotten about his predicament. Maybe fortune was not as wicked as she had thought, since she now got the best opportunity to talk to the boys. Maybe there was even something she could do to help... Slowly, a plan began to form in her head.

-tbc-


	14. Chapter 14

_Hey dear readers and reviewers, as always a big thank you to you first! _

_**Beth-rodrigues.77 **__(Hehe, loved that you liked Dick shedding his shyness and seriousness! At the end of the day, he's just a man, after all... :-)) Yeah, he and Lizzie finally had a moment of peace in the last chapter, let's see how they're doing in this chapter... ;-) Thanks for your wonderful review, you always make me smile. :-))), __**Jayden **__(Glad you liked the last chapter and wild Dick... Hehe, hope you like this, too, and thanks for the review!), __**coffee14**__ (Yeah, let's see if Lizzie gets into trouble by talking to the boys... :-) Thanks for your review!), __**ChocAndSnow19 **__(Hehe, yeah, naughty Dick, that's the way I love him... :-))) I think beneath all his seriousness and uprightness, he's just a man and Lizzie is the woman to bring this side out in him. *g* And yeah, I think it's a rather big leap of faith he took by telling her everything in the last chapter. Hehe, the vaccinations, we're going there in this chapter, hope you love! By the way, I wrote Gene in it, too, just to make you happy... :-))) Thanks for your wonderful review, was just so happy to read it!), __**ScarletLeon**__ (Hehe, so happy I got you reeling... :-) And now to the boys... Loved your review! :-)))._

_Let's get to the next chapter and see how Dick, Lizzie and the boys are doing... :-) Hope you enjoy!_

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Arm or buttocks, Private Malarkey?", Lizzie asked the red-haired soldier sitting on the examination table in front of her, who uneasily watched her draw up the syringe. It took all her willpower not to smile at his wide-eyed stare. So much for the cockiness of these elite paratroopers when it came to tiny little needles.

"I don't care", he replied, swallowing heavily. "As long as it's quick."

"Okay, turn over and pull your pants down a bit", she decided for him. "Try and relax."

It would hurt less in the backside and this way he would not see her injecting him with the needle. She was sure his comrades would never let him live it down if he fainted on her. Malarkey nodded nervously and complied, showing her a bit of his pale backside. While she swabbed the area with alcohol, she could not bite back the smile, but as long as his back was turned to her, at least he could not see her amusement. She decided to be merciful and made it quick, feeling him flinch at the prick of the needle.

"That's it, private", Lizzie said grinningly. "All done. I'm afraid I don't have any candy with me, but you were very brave."

That was mean, she knew it, but there was no way she could have bit back this last comment that earned her a disgruntled look from Malarkey and a chuckle from the medic who would come next. Malarkey pulled up his pants and hopped off the table without a goodbye, probably anxious to get as far away from her as possible.

"Next", she called and watched the medic sit down on the examination table. He was very young, with dark hair and brown, soulful eyes. And he was rather good-looking, she decided for herself, the way she could appreciate a beautiful picture. Her heart, however, had never been more firmly in the possession of another paratrooper.

"Name?", she asked, clipboard in her hand.

"Eugene Roe", he answered quietly and already rolled up his sleeve, while she ticked off his name.

"You're not afraid of needles, I guess?", she asked him while she dabbed at his arm with the alcohol and watched him looking on curiously.

"No", he replied, giving her a small smile. "I think I'd make a bad medic if I were. Don't think it would be a good thing if my hand started shaking only at the sight of a needle."

"True", she agreed with a smile of her own and gave him the shot, while he followed all of her moves with the greatest attention. "It doesn't bear thinking about if someone had decided to make Private Malarkey a medic."

"Yeah, awful", he answered smilingly, then rolled down his sleeve again and gave her a an approving look. "How did you do that? It didn't hurt at all. Last time I got the chance to practice in basic medical training, the others complained about pain and soreness for days."

That question made her smile even more. This medic was a real sweetheart and he seemed very keen on learning more about medical training. There was hardly anything more valuable than a well trained and dedicated medic and she guessed that Easy company would soon enough be very grateful for his presence and commitment.

"Are you trying to wheedle my professional secrets out of me?", she asked with a wink.

"Yeah, I am", he replied, somewhere between charming and bashful.

"There's just one trick to it", she answered readily. "Or maybe two tricks. First and most important is to slip in the needle quickly. Most beginners hesitate and as soon as you inject the needle slowly, it starts to hurt. Quick, steady, but not with too much force. It takes a few times to get the knack of it. Then second you need to get your patient to relax. As soon as they're tensing up, it starts hurting and there can even be some subcutaneous bleeding."

"Okay, thanks", he answered with a grateful nod and got up from the table. "I'll remember that."

"Tell me if you need more practice, it's the two Ranger battalions' turn for vaccinations next week", she offered with another wink. "We're always glad for some help."

"I'd love to", Roe replied, turning somber. "But I'm sure my CO won't allow me to skip training."

"Yeah, pity", she said and gave him a supportive nod. "They would all profit from a more thorough medical training of their medics."

"I know", he just answered, suddenly tight-lipped.

"Take care, Eugene Roe", she said, giving him a last smile before he left the ward, then she focused on the next in line, her eyes coming to rest on Bill Guarnere.

"Hi Bill", she greeted him cheerfully and ticked off his name from her clipboard.

"Hey Lizzie", he replied glumly, sounding subdued and looking quite different from the swaggering soldier she had met a few weeks ago. His eyes were bloodshot and as he came closer to get on her table, she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"You were out partying last night?", she asked him with raised eyebrows and at the same time realized that he must have slipped away without permission, since it was during the week.

"Not really", he answered bleakly. "More like trying to forget the misery that is Easy company."

She immediately realized that Dick was not alone in his desolation and that these men were pretty much forced to bear the brunt of the decision to separate him from Easy. And from the look of it, she already knew one who would soon break under the strain of the situation.

"And trying to forget the treason of our former holier-than-thou leader", Bill added and his hackles rose with scorn.

Treason? Very slowly, a suspicion rose in Lizzie. Wait… did he really think that Dick had left them out of free will?

"Winters?", she asked carefully and saw Bill nod his head. She all but expected him to spit on the ground in contempt. Oh my, things were even worse than she had suspected.

"No offense to your nurse friend who has the hots for him, but for all I care he can go and die in a hole somewhere", Bill replied derisively and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt.

"How come you think he left out of free will?", Lizzie asked slowly while she dabbed his arm with alcohol. She needed to tread very carefully now if she wanted to be any help to Dick.

"Career, better pay, better station", he replied with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah", Lizzie answered, trying to make her voice sound light, and gave him the shot. "He's probably one of those guys who likes to sit at a desk all day by himself, instead of training with you. Maybe he loves writing reports and stuff, some people find these things very exciting."

This made Bill stop and think. Lizzie hold her breath while she tried to give him an innocent look and a shrug of her shoulders, as if she did not have a care in the world. Some people listened to the voice of reason when it was presented to them, others – and she guessed Bill to belong to these kind of people – just needed to figure it out for themselves before they really believed it.

"No", he finally said, frowning deeply to himself. "Winters isn't that kind of person. If I ever saw him show anything like scorn it was when our CO forced him to do company administrations. Winters hates desks and reports."

"Well, then Winters is quite stupid to have accepted an intelligence position", Lizzie replied easily and silently cheered to herself. At least she had succeeded in sowing doubt and maybe Bill would soon listen when anybody told him that Dick had not had any choice about his transfer.

"Wait…", Bill suddenly spoke, looking at her suspiciously. "How do you know he was transferred to intelligence?"

Shit, she had not thought about that. Greta had been wrong, it was not her temper that got her into trouble but her loose tongue.

"Well…", she started, fumbling for words. "Your medic… Roe… he told me about it."

That was the best excuse she could come up with on such short notice and she cringed internally at the disbelieving look Bill gave her.

"He did?", he asked again and raised his eyebrows. "Funny, because our Gene is usually quite tight-lipped when it comes to such matters."

"Yeah, well", she answered with a smile that she hoped was convincing, "medics and nurses get along quite well."

"I see", he just replied neutrally, got up from the table and left the ward.

Sighing, Lizzie shook her head and focused on the next in line, Carwood Lipton.

"Don't let yourself be pulled down by him", Lip told her instead of a greeting and motioned with his head to the retreating Bill. "The last two days he's been in a shitty mood. Doesn't do much more than drink and mope around. It's a miracle MP hasn't caught him yet on his drinking sprees."

"Yeah, I know someone else who's moping, too", she revealed quietly and gave Lip a meaningful glance. Although she had not known the sergeant all that long yet, she knew that she could completely trust him. And he had known about her feelings for Dick almost longer than she had known about them herself.

"So Winters didn't have any say in it?", Lip asked with a tiny sigh of relief. Lizzie could see that there had been no major doubts about it, but still certainty was more than welcome, as it seemed.

"No, they pretty much forced him", she replied.

"Yeah, that's what I thought", Lip said, while she administered the injection. "You have any idea when he's due for his next check-up here?"

"It's all planned already", Lizzie answered with a certain smugness and could not hold back a smile when she saw the disbelief on Lip's face. "In one hour, down this corridor, last door on the right. You'll be alone for about thirty minutes, but I think it should be enough."

"He planned this?", Lip asked incredulously.

"No, he doesn't know about it. Yet", she replied, flashing him a grin. "He thinks there's nothing anyone can do, but I'm not so sure about it. You should at least have the opportunity to talk to each other."

"Thanks, Lizzie", Lip said, then frowned. "But be careful, you're now a part of this, too."

"Sure", she answered lightly.

There were only three more soldiers in her line, then the vaccinations were done for the day. Lizzie went to wash her hands, before she stepped outside to treat herself to a much needed smoke. It was a rather mild November evening and she left her jacket open, lighting herself a cigarette. Turning her head, she suddenly noticed Bill sitting on the stairs of one of the side entrances and she walked over to him.

"Gene said you only talked about professional things, nothing about Winters", Bill pointed out when she sat down next to him, taking a deep drag from his own cigarette.

"My, you're distrustful", Lizzie answered, trying to make light of his rather open accusation about her lying.

"Rightly so, as it seems", he replied, flashing her a small grin that faintly reminded her of the Bill Guarnere she had met two weeks ago.

"Okay, look", she said, deciding to somehow regain his trust. "We're friends, Winters and I. He told me about his transfer, okay?"

"You're friends?", Bill asked doubtfully. "I think you're shitting me again, Lizzie. There's no nurse friend of yours, is there?"

There was not much she could do under his watchful gaze. Maybe she was even blushing a bit. A tiny little bit. Damn it, she never blushed! Maybe she was not only rubbing off on Dick, but he was rubbing off on her, too.

"No, there is no 'nurse friend' of mine, as you put it", she finally confessed. Bill gave a smirk at that and offered her a cigarette from his packet that she accepted.

"My, my, what a happy little romance you're having on this beautiful and scenic military base, just before going to war", he commented drily and the irony of it all suddenly struck Lizzie, too, making her snort.

"You can't tell anyone", she beseeched him, turning serious again. "It's much too early to tell anyone and I don't want him to get in trouble."

"As far as I know, you tried to make me see that he's in trouble already", Bill pointed out, giving her a long look. "You swear he didn't have a hand in his transfer? You swear he wanted to stay with Easy?"

"Yeah, I swear", she answered fervently. "He tried to talk his superiors out of it, but to no avail. He's pretty devastated. You have no idea how much this company means to him, he'd do anything to be back."

"Yeah, we'd be happy to have him back, too", he replied quietly. He stared off into distance, but Lizzie could see that he was much calmer than just moments before, somehow more at peace with himself.

"If you want to see Winters", Lizzie offered carefully. "Lipton is meeting him in fifteen minutes. In case you don't believe me, you can ask him yourself if he wanted the transfer."

After a short moment of silence, Bill nodded, "Yeah, I'll be there."

She gave him a short smile and got up to get back, when his voice halted her again.

"Lizzie, your secret is safe with me, I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks, Bill."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lizzie waited by the entrance of the hospital, looking at her watch impatiently. Just moments before she had led Lip, Bill and Chuck Grant, who had been invited along, to the examination room she had chosen for their meeting. Luckily enough, Greta had asked no questions when Lizzie had requested that the actual examination would take place half an hour later than arranged.

Just as she wanted to check her watch again, she saw Dick drive up to the entrance in a jeep and stop right in front of her.

"You shouldn't drive by yourself yet", Lizzie rebuked him instead of a greeting, not being able to conquer the nurse in her despite the giddiness coursing through her veins at the sight of him.

"Hello to you, too", he just answered lightly and at least tried to look rueful, when he got out of the car. "Nix had no time to drive me."

The smile he gave her made her forget every other reprimand that might have been on her mind. He looked better, not as downcast and agitated as she had seen him two days ago. When he walked up to her it took every bit of willpower to not jump at him and kiss him. And judging from the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he looked at her, he might experience pretty much the same thoughts. They stood there for a moment, none of them really knowing what to do since they could not touch each other in plain view, before Lizzie motioned with her head for the entrance of the hospital.

"How have you been?", she finally asked, just to keep her pretty imaginative mind from thinking up all possible kinds of naughty scenarios.

"Quite well, I guess", he answered slowly and gave her a small smile. "I rested a lot. Came to terms with everything."

"That's good to hear", she replied cheerfully while they walked down the corridor and came to a halt before the door of the examination room. "Here we are. After you."

He gave her a puzzled look at the rather formal invitation and the big smile on her lips, his eyes narrowing suspiciously, before he opened the door and entered, Lizzie close on his heels.

"Sir", the three sergeants greeted Dick like one man, standing around the examination table in the middle of the room. Lizzie had to suppress a smile at the wide-eyed stare Dick gave them, surprise written all over his face. He finally managed to give them a tight nod in return, before he looked back to her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Could you explain this?", he asked her quietly and Lizzie was taken aback by his sudden coldness. It took a moment longer before she noticed that he was clenching his jaw tightly and she realized he did not like this surprise. At all.

"I thought you might want to talk about what happened", Lizzie replied, somewhere between defensive and disappointed because of his reaction.

"Sir, it's my doing", Lip readily stepped in to take the blame on himself as he seemed to notice Dick's displeasure, too. "I thought it'd be a good idea to talk to you. Lizzie just helped."

This was really sweet of Lip, but she had planned this secret meeting and she would certainly not let someone else take the brunt of it for her.

"That's not true, Dick", she said, his cold reaction hurting more than she wanted to admit to herself. "It was my plan. If you want to be angry with someone, you'll have to focus on me. Though I can't see why you're against this meeting."

"This here is the first step to mutiny", Dick replied lowly. "If someone from division gets to know about this, we're all going to get kicked out of the army. Maybe they'll put us in jail. Or worse."

"No one will get to know about it", Lizzie tried to appease him, watching the three sergeants bob their heads in agreement.

"Sir, I don't care about being kicked out of the army", Bill spoke up roughly. "You promised to be back and you broke that promise, that's why I'm here. We at least have the right to know the details."

"I'm sorry I won't be able to hold that promise", Dick replied, coming a few steps into the room and heaving a sigh. "It wasn't my idea, Sink ordered me to intelligence. I didn't have any choice."

"And we're stuck with Shames", Bill ground out, looking like he was about to kick something. "That's so fucking unfair."

Lizzie hated to see the sergeant this upset and felt she needed to give him some sort of comfort.

"At least Shames is only on a two-month trial period", she pointed out, sending ill a reassuring smile. "With some luck you'll be rid of him soon."

Nothing could have prepared her for the reaction that followed her words. At the same time as the three sergeants gasped in surprise, Dick gave her a long and hard look that made Lizzie suddenly feel very small. Oops. It looked like her tongue had ran away with her again. Damn it.

"Shames is only on a trial period?", Grant blurted out. "Why didn't they tell us?"

"Well, that's changing everything, then", Bill commented with a smirk. "I'll sabotage each and every one of his goddamn moves."

"Sir, you should've told us", Lip remarked pointedly and looked at Dick, accusation plainly written all over his face. "Don't you think we have a right to know?"

Dick, who had been eerily quiet, suddenly burst out, "You want to know why you weren't supposed to find out? Okay, I'll tell you the whole story! They didn't transfer me out of the company just like that, Sink pretty much accused me of fraternizing with the enlisted, with you! Sink has me on his radar because Sobel and Shames said something in that direction. And how do you think this will look right now, me talking to you secretly about how we can get rid of Shames?"

A stunned silence followed in which Lizzie hardly dared to breathe. Ok, she had really botched this one, because she had not thought it through. Dick's dismay about the meeting suddenly made much more sense. He had even told her about the allegations of fraternization, but she had not put the pieces together the right way. Oh god, she might have made everything even worse.

"And this isn't just about me", Dick continued more quietly, suddenly looking tired. "You'll be held responsible for this, too, and I don't want to see you get kicked out of the army. You're fine sergeants and you keep this all together. Think of the boys! You're NCO's, the boys are your responsibility, too. What would they do without you? And on top of it all, Lizzie is drawn into this as well. I didn't want that."

He gave her an agonized look that was quite hard to bear. After a few seconds she averted her gaze and looked down to her hands.

"There are worse things than being stuck with Shames", Dick carried on and gave each of them an intent look. "Second platoon can endure him, but should the three of you be discharged from the army, it'll be crushed. So please listen to me one last time: stop whatever you're about to do, right now."

After another moment of heavy silence, Lizzie watched Bill shake his head in denial.

"You want us to do nothing and watch that piece of shit destroy everything _you_ built up?", he forced out through clenched teeth, eyes blazing.

The look of pain on Dick's face almost broke Lizzie's heart. It seemed to cost him everything to give a single nod and answer tonelessly, "Yes, exactly."

"Fine", Bill spat. "I won't do anything now, but I swear, as soon as the first bullets fly, I can't guarantee for anything. Accidents happen. I swear my first round won't kill any Kraut. See for yourself if it's better when Easy loses two officers on the very first day of combat."

Lizzie was shocked at the pure hatred in Bill's voice and she watched Dick drag a tired hand over his face.

"I didn't hear that, Bill", he said softly. "These words won't get you kicked out of the army, they'll put you up against the wall for that. That's plain murder."

Bill, who had been staring at Dick heatedly, gave a snort of contempt, but finally averted his gaze to look to the ground.

"That's it then, sir?", Grant asked desolately into the heavy silence. "Just endure?"

"Yeah", Dick answered quietly. "What Lizzie said is true, Shames is on a two-months trial period. With some luck he'll botch that one all by himself, without you doing something stupid. As much as I heard, Horton dislikes him, so maybe you'll soon get someone else. Someone better."

"Yeah, and they lived happily ever after somewhere in fucking fairyland", Bill commented nastily. "We'll be made responsible for his blundering anyway, no matter if we actually do something or not."

Dick just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, that's it then", Lip said and sighed. "I'll respect your advice, sir."

"Thanks, Carwood", Dick replied, giving him a sad smile. "You all take care of the boys, right?"

"Will do, sir", Grant answered quietly.

Lizzie watched the three sergeants leave the room silently. As she made a move to follow them, Dick held her back, "Lizzie, can I have a word with you, please?"

Swallowing heavily, she turned back, seeing Lip giving her a small smile of reassurance. She stoically waited until the door was closed, then turned back to Dick.

"Don't do anything like that ever again", he told her gravely, looking at her intently. "I know you meant well, but you can't just plan such a thing behind my back."

"Yeah, I see that now", she replied meekly. Knowing that she might have made everything worse instead of helping him was lying heavily on her conscience. "It's just that it's so difficult to watch everything that matters to you crumble to dust, I thought there was something I could do to help."

"This is my struggle and my problem", he answered fiercely, before his eyes turned softer. "I don't want to see you get hurt because of me."

Somehow that last comment, although meant as some sort of reconciliation, woke her own sleeping temper.

"Look, I can respect that you don't want me to meddle in your affairs", she replied briskly, "but then in turn I expect you to let it be my problem when, where and why I risk myself. I'm no child, Dick, no need to get protective."

"Then stop behaving like a child", Dick retorted. "This is no game, Lizzie."

"Oh no, don't you dare giving me the Don't-you-know-we're-at-war-lecture", she hissed, feeling anger rising in her. "I fucking lost my brother in this war two weeks ago!"

Before Dick could reply, the door opened and Greta walked in. The doctor gave them both a long look, then shook her head and asked long-sufferingly, "Do you know how awkward it is, seeing you arguing all the time? Can't you just discuss the weather or something?"

Fuming, Lizzie decided she had had enough and left, slamming the door behind her. What she would not have expected was Lip and Grant waiting for her outside, watching her stomp out of the room with big eyes.

"I need a smoke", was the only thing she said in response to the questioning look the two sergeants gave her and they took one of the side entrances to get out of the hospital. Still angry, Lizzie accepted a cigarette from Grant, trying to blow out her whole frustration with the smoke.

"Sometimes he can be such a condescending, self-righteous ass", she ground out when none of the other two made a move to break the silence.

Maybe it was just the petulant way she had said it, but despite their tense situation the two sergeants suddenly started chuckling.

"He is", Grant agreed smilingly. "I think he was born this way. Doesn't make it any easier to bear that he's right most of the times."

The comment made Lizzie snort.

"Yeah, that's the most insufferable combination, self-righteous and being right all the time", she replied, making the others chuckle again.

"He gave you hell?", Lip asked with a crooked smile.

"Yeah", she admitted with a sigh. "And was probably right to reproach me, too. It was stupid of me to think I could help."

"Don't say that", Lip told her. "You risked yourself selflessly, I won't forget that."

"Thanks, Carwood", she replied smilingly. "But that's exactly what he couldn't appreciate at all."

"He cares for you a lot", Lip said warmly as a kind of explanation.

"As he does for you and Easy company", Lizzie answered in turn and watched them grow somber. Her anger at Dick had dissipated as quickly as it had come and she made a mental note to make up with him as soon as possible. Until then she was stuck with the realization that her plan had backfired completely.

"Where's Bill?", she asked them quietly.

"Went back to the barracks", Grant answered with a wince. "I hope he'll cool down soon."

"I guess it's your doing that he came at all tonight?", Lip asked her with raised eyebrows.

"I talked to him", Lizzie replied and shrugged her shoulders. "Told him the transfer wasn't Winters' fault. Hopefully he'll believe it now, despite everything."

"He will", Lip said with certainty. "He's angry and disappointed, but I think he'll listen to what Winters said. After all he's not totally immune against the voice of reason that's always right."

Lizzie smiled at that. This day had shown her above all how very close these soldiers were to each other and how deeply they respected Dick in their middle. Only now she could fully grasp the gap that he would leave in Easy company. And only now she realized how hard it must have been for Dick to accept that there was nothing he could do to change circumstances without destroying even more of their team spirit. It took a real leader to comprehend that.

"So you'll listen and won't do anything?", Lizzie asked quietly.

"We won't do anything", Lip replied with conviction. "It usually pays out to listen to Winters. I still hope he'll eventually be back with us."

"So do I", she agreed, taking another drag from her cigarette.

-tbc-


	15. Chapter 15

_Hey my dear readers!_

_I'm very sorry this update took so long. I know I broke my promise of updating at least every two weeks. There are two reasons for the delay: First reason was that I was a bit lost about how to proceed with the story and I'm actually not that happy with this chapter. I know exactly where I want to go with this story, but I have right now some troubles sorting out how to get there. I really hope you like this chapter anyway. It's a bit shorter than the earlier ones and leaves off a bit abruptly, but I really felt like I had to update soon. I hope it isn't too bad. Second and very selfish reason for not updating was the beautiful summer weather we had here in Switzerland in the last few weeks. It was just too nice and warm to sit indoors all the time in my rather limited time off. I did all kind of things from going to musical festivals to hiking in the mountains and swimming in the river. Kind of makes it hard to get the feeling for getting in the mood of writing a story that is set in November... I always wanted to make my characters sweat in the summer heat and going for a swim before remembering they had to be cold..._

_Thanks to my wonderful reviewers who kept my bad conscience about not updating awake: __**beth-rodrigues.77 **__(Hehe, so happy you liked the last chapter and the Dick-Lizzie tension! And yeah, about Bill, he's certainly a bit of a loose cannon, no one really knows what he's going to do next... Thanks for your steady reviewing, you're awesome!), __**Jayden **__(Yeah, you're right, the boys have to be involved to make the story interesting. They're certainly going to stick around for the chapters to come. Hehe, and yeah, Dick was a bit harsh, but then I just love to raise the tension between him and Lizzie. Thanks so much for your steadfast reviewing, it keeps me writing!), __**ScarletLeon **__(Hehe, you just love the guys, don't you? So glad you enjoy when I write them in the story! *lol* And yeah, Dizzie tension! So happy you love their relationship! Thanks for your wonderful reviews, they always make me so happy!), __**ChocAndSnow19 **__(So glad you loved the part with Gene, I think it's rather hard to get him right. And yeah, Bill, he's a trouble-maker and he'll certainly create trouble in the future...;-) To answer your question about Easy listening to Dick: well, you know the guys, they're not lambs and they have their own minds what to do... :-) Nope, I won't say more than that. *ggg* Have a lovely, sunny day, too, and thanks for your steady reviewing, it's what keeps me going!)._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When Dick walked out of the examination room, he decided to make a small detour through the ward, maybe he would have a chance to talk to Lizzie again. He already regretted his last comment to her, she had really only wanted to help. If she had only asked him beforehand what he thought about a secret meeting with his sergeants, then he could have told her why he was against it.

It had been hard enough to realize he could not do anything to get back to Easy, but being forced to tell his former sergeants to their face that it was hopeless had been almost more than he could bear. Seeing their loyalty and devotion towards him had also made him painfully aware that his skepticism of the trust between them before he got sick had been totally unfounded. This insight, however, came too late and made it even harder to bear that he would now have no chance to let them feel his full trust in them.

Checking every last corner of the ward and finding no trace of Lizzie, Dick decided to accept defeat on all lines and return to the Barnes'. He could not lose her, too, just because of that silly argument! With his mood reaching its lowest point, he stepped out of the hospital into the dark November evening. When he came closer to the car, he suddenly noticed a figure leaning against the jeep.

"What took you so long?", Lizzie asked lightly, rubbing her arms through the thin jacket she wore. "I froze my butt off waiting for you."

Seeing her and knowing by the small smile on her lips that she was not mad anymore eased at least one of Dick's worries. Before he knew it, he felt his lips curl into a smile of relief. It really would have been one blow too many if she had just cut off relations to him after their argument.

"Actually I was looking for you", he replied and saw her eyes light up at that. If they had been a normal couple, living together in a normal place and with a bright future laid out before them, he would have enveloped her in a deep kiss. Just to make sure she was actually there, real and not mad anymore. To be certain he had not lost her, too, on top of everything else. But as it was, they were still living on a military base and if his superiors saw them together, they might get in trouble. Division was usually quite tolerant when it came to soldiers hanging out with local civilian girls, but they would definitely frown upon two officers kissing in public.

"Well, I wasn't in the ward because my shift is over", Lizzie explained, giving him a probing look and another smile that was only slightly more hesitant than her usual open smiles. She then stretched out her hand. "Give me the keys, I'll drive."

This made him smile a bit more, but he complied and they were off, driving down the dark streets. Soon enough, Dick realized that she had missed a turnoff and just as he wanted to point that out to her, she took another turn, taking the main road that led away from Aldbourne.

"You're abducting me?", he asked, quirking a smile.

"Yeah", she answered lightly and shortly looked at him to return his smile, before she concentrated again on the road. "I thought it would do us some good, to be away from everything for a few hours. I don't want to worry all the time about people overhearing what we're saying."

"Yeah, that makes sense", he replied, then watched her from the side. "Look, Lizzie, I'm sorry if I was too harsh back there, I really didn't want to lecture you on the horrors of war."

"It's fine, Dick", she told him, sending him a wry grin. "It was my fault, I really messed up. You have every right to be angry with me." She paused, then added with a sigh, "This is probably why I'm just a nurse and not a spy."

"Well, let's just say you'd need _lots_ of training to become a spy", Dick stated drily. The sound of her snort of amusement was like balm on his soul. "At least you managed to plan everything behind my back, so I guess you're not totally untalented."

"Why, thank you", she answered sarcastically, then turned more serious. She was silent for a moment before she gave him a hesitant look. "We're good, then?"

"Yeah, we're good", he replied with a smile.

"We need to stop arguing all the time, you know", Lizzie answered after a short pause and shot him a look from dancing eyes. "I think we're pretty insufferable for everyone around us."

"Well", Dick replied with mock seriousness, but made sure she saw his grin. "If you wouldn't make everything more difficult all the time..."

"Hold it right there, mister!", she warned him, the indignation in her voice making him chuckle. "You always need two people to start an argument. You're not all innocence either, no matter what your stainless reputation or that show of bashfulness might suggest."

"I was joking, Lizzie", he said smilingly.

She gave another huff, just for good measure, but it was not long before he felt her warm hand on his. Her long fingers caressed the calluses on his palm which he had acquired from shooting practice. Even a month-long rest had not been enough to make them disappear. Her hand felt soft and delicate, but he knew from experience the strength that lay in her hands. Being unable to hold himself back, he squeezed her fingers gently, then brought her hand up to his lips, brushing a kiss on the back. He was rewarded for his boldness with an almost inaudible sigh from her lips and a smile that lit up her whole face. It was definitely the happiest moment of his day so far.

They drove some time in silence, the dark landscape flitting past them, before he suddenly asked, "I guess it's your doing I received my clearance for light duty today?"

"Oh, good, then Greta actually kept her promise", she just answered.

"Yeah, and judging from her disgruntled mood, she wasn't too happy about it", Dick replied wryly. "Thanks, by the way."

"You're welcome. It's the least I could do."

They drove for another twenty minutes before they reached a small city and Lizzie parked the car in front of a dimly illuminated pub. Dick had been unable to make out a place name sign, he guessed all signs had been removed to make orientation harder in case England was invaded by the Germans.

He got out of the car and followed Lizzie into the pub that was quite crowded for a Thursday evening. The noise died down a bit as soon they entered, some heads turning in their direction since they were obviously the only two non-civilians in the room, as Dick noticed immediately. He was quite used to this reaction by now, but he could not help feeling a bit uneasy about the attention they received. A male and a female officer, under the week, all by themselves in a pub. Rumor might reach the base. And the fact that there were not too many red-haired officers stationed in Aldbourne did not make things easier.

"You're taking a beer?", Lizzie asked when they had found a quiet spot in the back of the pub. He had to admit to himself that she seemed much more at ease in these surroundings than he.

"No, just a Coke", he answered, then suddenly noticed the way some of the men were looking at her, and added, "I'll go to the bar, just stay here."

"It's fine, Dick. I'm a big girl, I can manage", she replied and shook her head smilingly. "Just relax, you're all tense."

With that she was off and he knew better than to start a new argument with her right now. He followed her with his gaze and looked sharply at a group of young men that stared unashamedly after Lizzie, but they were probably too preoccupied with the way her hips swayed and ignored him completely. When one of them catcalled as she came back with the drinks, it took all of Dick's willpower to stay seated and not confront them directly.

"Stupid boys", Lizzie just commented when she came back, then probably noticed him gripping the edge of the table tightly. "Dick, they're looking for trouble, if you react now, you'll give them an excuse to start a fight."

"Yeah, you're right", he managed to get out, then willed himself to concentrate on her and forget everything around him. "Thanks for the drink."

"You're welcome", she replied cheerfully and offered him the beer she had bought for herself. "You sure you don't want some of my beer?"

"No, thanks."

"God, you're just too virtuous to be true", she commented with a grin that showed her dimples. "Is it because you'll be working again tomorrow?"

"No", he answered and bit on his lips to keep from smiling at the pensive look on her face.

"If you think the alcohol will mess with your meds, I can calm you down, it's fine if you have a drink or two", she told him and lit herself a cigarette.

"It's not because of the meds", he replied and now smiled openly to see her give him a puzzled look. It took a while before it dawned on her.

"No, wait", she began, narrowing her eyes to give him another close look. "Don't tell me you're a teetotaler!"

He shrugged his shoulders as an answer and took a sip from his Coke.

"You've got to be kidding me!", Lizzie exclaimed, making a show of burying her face in her hands. "Greta will roll on the floor laughing if I ever tell her about that. Me and a teetotaler!"

Her show of disbelief made him smile even broader to himself. He loved to see her like this, happy and playful, even when it was on his expense. Cheerful moments of lightheartedness seemed to become painfully scarce with each passing day that brought them closer to battlefield. He tried to soak it all up and stow it away like a treasure, to have something to remember in the hard times ahead.

"You're not a quaker, are you?", Lizzie asked suspiciously, but her dancing eyes told him that she was having great fun teasing him. The sight brought a cozy warmth to his heart.

"No, I'm not", Dick replied, making a show of rolling his eyes at her. A peal of laughter from her throat rewarded him for his efforts. "You're worse than the boys. And believe me, you'd have to face some tough competition, there are some real smartasses in my platoon."

Just as the words slipped from his lips, he realized his error. They were not his boys anymore. That was all in the past now. He could practically feel his mood sinking at this realization. Before he knew it, he felt slender fingers on his hand that he had inadvertently balled to a fist. He looked up and saw Lizzie give him a sympathetic smile.

"I'm really sorry, Dick", she told him with eyes that shimmered with sympathy. "I hardly got to know them, but they're great guys and fine soldiers. Don't give up all hope yet, your superiors will eventually understand that they made a mistake and that you're the best man to lead Easy."

"Thanks", he replied quietly and looked at her with new eyes, full of amazement. The cocky girl she had been just moments before had disappeared and suddenly she had become his cornerstone of hope. Source of strength indeed, Dick thought and remembered Nix's words about her just a few days ago.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The evening with Lizzie was a much-welcomed respite for Dick. Although they had only known each other for some weeks, he already felt a deep connection to her, as if he had known her all his life. As a token of trust, he had encouraged her to ask him all kind of questions, about his life now and before the army. Lizzie had made good use of the time and had asked him about his family, about his education and the reasons he had joined the army as an officer. It had amused him greatly that she would not believe he had enlisted in order to shorten his time in service and he had needed a good part of their way back to Aldbourne to convince her that he had never actually wanted a military career as an officer. Before they had parted, they had shared another kiss. It was a chaste and romantic kiss, that reflected both their wish to go at this slowly.

Still, it had been passionate enough to make Dick think about it every time he stared off into space while he sat at a desk in headquarters – department intelligence – the next morning, a report in front of him.

"Aww, soon you'll draw little hearts on that report", Nix, who sat opposite of him at another desk, goaded with a lazy smile.

Dick sighed and shot his friend an annoyed look. Telling Nix about the evening with Lizzie had been his biggest mistake since not listening to Roe the night he got sick. The teasing was already going on for hours, but Dick should have known that his friend had always been amazingly resourceful when it came to making fun of something. Or someone.

"You should name your firstborn son after me, you know", Nix continued with a smirk. "After all I predicted your cute little romance the moment I saw Lizzie buzz around you after your surgery. Hell, you were probably sitting somewhere on a pink cloud and were only interested in counting sheep, with the amount of morphine they had pumped into you, but I knew already you'd make a sweet couple."

"Lew, please", Dick begged, feeling exasperation rising in him and laying down his pen. "I need to focus on this report and you're not making it any easier. It's my first day here and I really don't want to disappoint Captain Norton on my very first day. So could you please, please just shut up?"

"Ah, the office job isn't as easy as you thought", Nix remarked smugly and lit himself a cigarette. "Maybe you'll need a massage later on. These beautiful hands of your nurse could..."

"Nix", Dick growled, now definitely getting fed up with the mocking of his friend. "That's enough."

"Or what?", Nix challenged, smirking. "You'll draw hearts on my reports, too?"

Giving up, Dick let his head sink down on his folded arms and resisted the urge to either cover his ears with his hands or bang his forehead on the table until he had knocked himself unconscious. Oh Easy! How wonderful it had been, being shooed up a mountain, hearing one of Sobel's tantrums or inspecting the latrines!

"Lieutenant Winters?", a new voice asked mildly. "Are you alright?"

Snapping up instantly, Dick was met with the appearance of Captain Norton standing in the doorway. The other officer had raised one eyebrow, the soft and slightly chubby face showing concern.

"Everything alright, sir, I just got tired for a moment", Dick answered uneasily and he heard Nix give an almost inaudible snort at that. Dick tried to send him an inconspicuous look to get him to shut up.

"Oh, I see", the captain replied and sent him an understanding smile that made Dick immediately feel bad about fibbing to his superior. "You're still recovering. You should take the afternoon off and rest, I wouldn't want to wear you out on your very first day."

"It's fine, sir, I think I can manage for another few hours", Dick answered.

"Just take your time, son", Norton said mildly. "No need to force things."

Having said that, the captain nodded at both Dick and Nix, then slowly walked out of the room and pulled the door shut behind him. Dick could not help himself and just stared after his new superior. Then he gave his friend a questioning look.

"It's quite the culture shock, isn't it?", Nix said grinningly and propped his feet up on his desk. "Being used to Sobel's torture and all. Thing is, Captain Pudding's good side is also his bad side: there isn't even an ounce of authority in him."

One part of Dick was aghast at the nickname his friend had given his superior, the other part was still marveling at the fact that someone like Norton had joined the army.

"How did he become captain?", Dick asked, shaking his head to himself.

"The only reasonable guess is connections or family", Nix replied. "I like him, really, but the whole intelligence staff trembles at the thought of going to war with him. He can't hurt a fly, let alone a Kraut. He'd probably offer Hitler coffee if he saw him."

Dick shuddered a bit at that. He hated the thought of using humiliation or brutality as a means to discipline his men, but then he had never been a big fan of laxity either. An army without discipline and a just form of authority could never work.

"Good thing Sink promised to get me into operations, then", Dick answered innocently, unable to keep this piece of information to himself. Operations was after all the most popular position at staff and highly prestigious. Still, he would exchange this commission in a heartbeat for receiving back command in Easy, together with everything he possessed. But that was out of his hands. At least the look of outrage on Nix's face made up for the teasing Dick had to suffer through in the last few hours.

"He didn't!", his friend exclaimed, then his eyes narrowed when Dick nodded. "You lucky bastard. How did you do it?"

"By not propping my feet up on the desk, I guess", Dick replied, looking pointedly at Nix's dirty shoes that were lying only a hair's breadth beside the sheets of his report.

"That comeback wasn't too bad, considering you normally wouldn't recognize humor if it bit you in the ass", Nix drawled, flashing a grin. "Do I sense a trace of nurse humor? Which would lead us back on topic..."

Dick just groaned.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was early. Much too early to be up und outside anyway, Lizzie thought, while she stood shivering on the open field. It was a grey and misty morning and would probably become another one of those English days that made it futile to look out for the sun. The brownish fatigues she wore were slightly too big on her lean frame and the unfamiliarly rough material chafed her skin.

"Do you really think we're learning how to shoot today?", Jean asked her timidly, nervously shifting her weight from one foot to the other and giving Lizzie a look out of wide eyes. The young nurse looked like she would bolt at the first sound of a gun being fired.

"Well, I hope so", Lizzie just answered grumblingly. "Or I could've slept for another few hours."

She looked around to the other ten nurses and about thirty other women, all enlisted in different parts of the army from mess hall to administrations, standing shivering on the field and waiting for their instructor. Half the nurses of the military hospital were receiving their first shooting practice today, while the other half was taking over the shift at the hospital. Just as she wondered if their instructor had forgotten about their training, she saw Captain Teller, walking through the mist to their position. He had so far been responsible for their theoretical classes as a preparation for battlefield. Although Dick had snorted in amusement when she had told him about Teller reciting military history from the Ancient Greeks over the Prussian army reform to nowadays in the first two hours of their theoretical class, she had actually enjoyed the history lesson. Of course all this background information would not help her in the unlikely situation she would ever be caught close to enemy fire and Dick probably knew that only too well.

Thinking of Dick and his practical side brought a smile to her lips. Their short trip a week ago had kind of settled their relationship, although they had never really talked about it. They had seen each other twice since then and every minute spending with him made her happy, which was why she just went with the flow of her emotions and enjoyed the time with him. Maybe they would define what they had going on, maybe not. Time was just too precious to waste it with brooding, and her feelings for him could not have been any clearer. And there really was no doubt in her heart about his feelings for her. So why make everything more complicated with tedious talk about relationships? It would only get them to think about the future and this was a train of thought she forbid herself thoroughly. After all, she knew he would be going to war soon. And there was the chance he would not be coming back...

"Ladies! Could I have your attention, please?", Captain Teller interrupted her thoughts, for which she was glad. Her chest became tight with dread whenever her mind wandered in the realms of thinking about Dick and battlefield. She shook her head once, to get rid of these unwanted thoughts, then focused on her instructor.

"You might wonder", Teller continued, "why you're going to learn basic combat skills in the next few weeks, since none of you are supposed to be stationed even close to enemy lines. However, war is unpredictable and ground can be lost quicker than you can imagine. This is why your superiors decided to teach you the military basics: some endurance training, orientation in the field, shooting practice, looking for adequate cover when under attack, first aid in the field and so on. Although the army will do its best not to expose you to the immediate danger of combat, it's better to be prepared than to send you to the theatre of war without any training at all. I'm also aware of the fact that some of you plan to stay here in England for the duration of the war, but it was decided that _every_ member of the army should be taught the basics, because plans can always change. So I ask you to pay close attention to your training in the following weeks and months."

Lizzie nodded her head in acknowledgement, like the rest of the women present.

"Good", Teller said, then gestured behind him. "Since we'll not be able to finish in time if it's only me leading you through the training, I brought some help."

Lizzie could make out the shapes of soldiers emerging through the mist. As they came closer, she suddenly recognized Lipton, Guarnere and some other familiar faces among them.

"Colonel Sink from the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment was kind enough to offer us the service of second platoon of Company E for half a day every two weeks in the following three to four months, to help with the more demanding parts of training", Teller continued and gave Shames, who came to stand beside him, a nod of thanks.

Lizzie felt her eyes narrow at the sight of the lieutenant, who had stolen Dick's rightful place in the company. Shames let his eyes roam over the column of women and Lizzie could see a derisive smirk taking hold of his angular face. When his eyes came to rest on her, she noticed him pause visibly. It seemed like he remembered their short encounter in the bar a few weeks ago when she had refused to follow his orders, because his smile disappeared and he sent her a dark look. It took every bit of willpower on her part not to smirk at him in a show of insubordination, but she knew it would be a childish move and would only get her in trouble.

"Do they know how to stand at attention yet, Captain Teller?", Shames asked their instructor imperiously.

"They don't need to stand at attention here, so it's not our task to teach them", Teller answered frowningly, which almost made Lizzie cheer loudly. "They're mixed together from many different divisions and their respective units are in charge of making them stand at attention. Besides, _Lieutenant _Shames, some of them are higher ranking than you."

On the verge of laughing, Lizzie looked to her side where Betty was standing. The blonde sturdy nurse, which had been accurately dubbed "Valkyrie" by Dick, had been raised to the rank of captain not two weeks ago and gave Shames, who probably stood a feet shorter than the big nurse, a scathing look that probably had him trembling in his shoes. It was too much, Lizzie could not fully bite back the snort that escaped her throat. Of course Shames noticed, and his small, watery blue eyes skewered her alive.

"Yes, Lieutenant Weiss, is there something you would've liked to add?", Captain Teller asked pointedly.

"No, sir, I think you said it all", Lizzie replied, doing her best to sound abashed and contrite.

"Good", the captain replied curtly, then addressed everyone, "To get you in shape, we'll start every training from now on with PT, starting today with running twenty minutes before we move on to shooting practice."

They set off. After a few minutes of jogging over the field and up the low hill just outside the base, Lizzie noticed Lipton falling in beside her.

"Making friends with our platoon leader already?", he asked her lightly instead of a greeting, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard by the others.

"Yeah, his charm is just so irresistible", she answered sarcastically, already a bit out of breath. It had been years since she had last spent time working on her fitness, must have been in high school. She had been good in all kinds of sport back then, but now she was hopelessly out of shape. Shooting an envious look over to Lipton, she realized that the sergeant was not breathing heavier than usual and there was not even one drop of sweat on his brow.

"God, I need to smoke less", she gasped out, making Lipton grin. Her thighs were already burning under the strain and the fatigues would definitely leave sore spots on her legs and hips.

"You'll get used to it", Lipton said and gave her an encouraging smile. After a short pause he asked quietly, "How is Winters?"

Lizzie almost sighed in exasperation, then decided that she needed her breath to keep running. So she instead shot Lipton a look of reproach.

"Could you at least pretend it wasn't that obvious that I'm seeing him?", she panted. The hill was definitely getting steeper and she hoped Teller, who was running up front, would spare them the top for today.

"Sorry", Lipton answered lightly, looking not at all contrite. "How about that: Would you by any chance know anything about how Lieutenant Winters, our former platoon leader, is doing? Maybe you know him: tall, red hair, rather quiet..."

"Yeah... that's better", Lizzie wheezed, forcing her legs to keep moving. "He's fine... Much better than I right now, I guess... Bored already by intelligence... Misses Easy..."

Lipton's brilliant smile made up for the breath she lost on talking. Just when she thought her heart would give out under the strain, Teller took mercy on them and slowly ran back to the field where they had started off. Drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, Lizzie came to a halt.

Shooting practice was about to begin.

-tbc-


	16. Chapter 16

_I'm very sorry this update took so long. Thank you all for being patient!_

_My most heartfelt thanks goes to my wonderful reviewers: __**beth-rodrigues.77 **__(So happy to hear you still love Dick and Lizzie, there will be more of them in this chapter. And yes, there will be definitely happier days to come for Dick and Easy, I promise. Thanks so much for your support!), __**ScarletLeon **__(Hehe, yeah, the Quaker joke, I just had to write that one in somehow... :-) And I'm so happy you liked "Valkyrie"! :-))) There's some Dizzie tension for you to come in this chapter! :-))) Thanks for your wonderful review!), __**Crazyforkasey **__(Welcome to the story and thanks for your review! Glad you love and I hope I'll finally be getting there to write them in the war theater. Just hang on!), __**Jayden **__(Hehe, so glad you liked Nix in the last chapter, he'll be in this chapter, too. Thanks so much for your steadfast reviews, they always make my day!), __**ChocAndSnow19**__ (Hehe, so happy you loved Nix's ribbing in the last chapter, he's also fun for me to write. :-)) I think it's very cool you think that Dick and Lizzie are made for each other. :-))) Makes me all happy and fuzzy. :-))), __**Semaphore **__(Welcome to the story and many thanks for your detailed reviews! I really enjoyed them and I hope you'll be reading (and hopefully enjoying!) the rest of the story, too!)._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The rifle was heavier in her hands than it looked. Lizzie studied the weapon apprehensively, feeling more than ever that she had made the right decision by becoming a nurse and therefore positioning herself on the side that healed wounds, not inflicted them.

"Feels good, huh?", Guarnere drawled beside her and gave her one of his toothy grins. Captain Teller had paired them together for the shooting practice, for which she was glad since she really liked the sergeant. At least when he was not in one of his dark moods and threatened to shoot his platoon leader.

"Well", Lizzie answered slowly. "I'm not sure. I've never held a gun before. I'm actually one of those people who feels much safer when they are stored far away from me."

"We're at war", Guarnere answered, slightly incredulous. "You won't win a war by chatting the enemy out of capturing new territory."

"I know that", she replied, irked by him treating her like a school girl. "But wars usually end by chatting the enemy out of continuing his killing and invasion of foreign territory. Ever heard of capitulations?"

Guarnere answered by spitting on the ground.

"Krauts are different", he clarified harshly. "They won't stop their killing until every last of them is dead."

"Most of them got families, too", Lizzie answered carefully. "Many of them probably won't be so eager to let themselves be killed for a lost cause, but want to return to their…"

Before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by an imperious voice.

"Was I somehow unclear in my instructions?", Shames barged in, appearing out of nowhere. "Sergeant, you're supposed to teach her the basics of shooting a weapon, not discuss the culture of the Krauts or the finesse of diplomacy. We've got people much more able to discuss these matters than nurses and sergeants."

"Sir", Guarnere answered through clenched teeth.

"No need to get offensive, lieutenant", Lizzie replied coolly. "Sergeant Guarnere was just about to explain me the handling."

"'Just about' is not soon enough", Shames barked and turned to Guarnere. "Your deliberate insubordination has to stop, _right now_. We talked about this before, sergeant, and I won't tolerate it anymore."

"I wasn't being insubordinate, sir", Guarnere replied with blazing eyes. Lizzie thought she heard an undertone of desperation in his voice. "We were about to…"

"Shut up!", the lieutenant roared, the volume of his voice making Lizzie flinch. "I warned you if there was one more transgression, I'd bust you back to private. My patience is ending here and now!"

"He didn't do anything!", Lizzie intervened sharply. "It was me who started the discussion, it wasn't his fault!"

But Shames just ignored her and advanced on Guarnere, pushing him backwards with flat hands. After the third push, the sergeant planted his feet to the ground and in turn shoved his platoon leader back from him, his face a mask of anger. Lizzie knew that the situation was close to boiling over. Just one more provocation from Shames' part and Guarnere would fly at his throat. She looked around anxiously, but although the other pairings around them had stopped in their instructions, no one made a move to intervene. Neither Lipton nor Captain Teller was anywhere in sight.

"This is the last straw, Guarnere", Shames growled. "You piece of shit don't belong in this company. You hand in your sergeant's stripes right now and get the fuck out of my face."

"Yeah?", Guarnere replied venomously. "Go fuck yourself! You're not my CO, you can't make me."

Shames narrowed his eyes even more, a vein throbbing dangerously in his throat, then he suddenly spit the sergeant in the face. Lizzie, watching everything out of wide eyes, was too shocked to move for a moment. But luckily enough, she recovered more quickly than Guarnere. She had to act now or it would be too late. Just as the sergeant tensed up to retaliate, she did the only thing she could think of to stop them: she aimed the gun she carried upwards and pulled the trigger. The resounding bang was loud enough to deafen her while the unexpected recoil almost ripped the weapon from her hand. She could hold onto it in the last moment.

At least her desperate move had the desired effect, since both Shames and Guarnere had stopped dead in their tracks and stared at her, thunderstruck. While Lizzie still recovered from the ringing in her ears, Captain Teller came running over the field towards them.

"What happened?", he gasped out, breathing hard and giving them all an intent look. "I told you you're not supposed to shoot yet, we're still setting up the targets. Is anyone hurt?"

"I… I don't know what happened, sir", Lizzie replied timidly, in her best imitation of a babe in the woods. "The gun just went off… I was so scared…"

The captain gave her a long look and she batted her eyelashes at him for good measure. She thought about sniffling a bit as if close to tears, but that might have overdone it. Captain Teller sighed, then looked away from her, buying her little show or at least deciding not to comment on it.

"No one's hurt?", he asked again into the round.

"No, sir", Shames replied, frowning deeply. "The shot went up in the air." Then he added scathingly, "This is probably why there aren't any women in the fighting units."

Lizzie narrowed her eyes at him and the derision in his voice, but was wise enough to keep her mouth shut.

"No, Lieutenant Shames", Captain Teller disagreed. "This is why we decided to let them have proper shooting training. They don't know better right now, but they should after they've completed this training."

"Yes, sir", Shames replied through clenched teeth.

"Would you come with me for a moment, lieutenant?", Teller asked Shames. "I'd like to hear your advice on the targets." Then he turned to Guarnes, "Sergeant, carry on, but be careful, alright?"

While Guarnere nodded in response, Lizzie did not miss the heated gaze that Shames sent the sergeant, probably telling him that this was not over yet. Then the captain and the lieutenant walked away.

"Jeez, Lizzie, I didn't know you're such a hazard with a gun", Guarnere told her, obviously already over his anger, and gave her a lopsided grin. "You've got to be more careful, girl."

Lizzie gave him a long look and raised her eyebrows.

"Didn't know my act was so convincing, I could probably make a career on the stage", she told him in a low voice full of sarcasm. "I was saving your ass, you moron."

His eyes widened at that.

"You did it on purpose?", he asked her incredulously, but at least remembered to keep his voice down.

"I'm not so stupid that I wouldn't know what happened if I pulled the trigger", she replied, shaking her head at him. "_You_ got to be more careful, Bill. You realize that fighting with your superior will get you kicked out of the army?"

His wide-eyed stare instantly turned petulant.

"He's an asshole and would've deserved a whacking", he murmured with narrowed eyes. "He spat at me!"

"I know he's an asshole, but Winters told you to do nothing", Lizzie replied fiercely. "This isn't helping."

"Winters isn't here", he grumbled.

"That's obvious, isn't it?", she answered sarcastically. "Don't let yourself be provoked by Shames."

"You saw him!", Guarnere replied heatedly. "He hates me and he won't stop his badgering until I'm gone from Easy company. There's nothing I can do!"

There was definitely a good portion of desperation in his voice, Lizzie noticed. She felt sorry for him, because she saw that this newest confrontation had really not been his fault.

"I know, Bill", she said sympathetically. "You're in a really shitty situation, I can see that. Try and hold on a bit longer, alright?"

"How much longer?", he asked, sending her a pained smile.

"I don't know. Hopefully not too long."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lizzie got out of the car and slowly walked to the Barnes' house. Her muscles were sore from running up that hill yesterday, before the ill-gone shooting practice. Groaning a bit, she dragged herself up the short flight of stairs and knocked on the door. No one answered. She looked at her watch and realized that she was more than twenty minutes early. Still, she had expected Dick to be there, since she knew he had the day off. She had been rather anxious to tell him about shooting practice and the clash between Shames and Guarnere yesterday. They had not seen each other in the last two days because either he or she had been too busy for a date.

Sitting down on the stairs, she lit herself a cigarette and waited.

"I know you'll be the death of me next time I have to run that hill", she murmured to her half-smoked cigarette and then, with a sigh, stubbed it out.

"Didn't know you had a penchant for talking to inanimate objects", a familiar voice remarked drily and when she looked up, she saw Dick leaning against the rail at the bottom of the stairs. The weak November sun was setting his hair on fire and a brilliant smile decorated his face. It was so infectious that she immediately found herself smiling back at him. That was, until she noticed the PT gear he wore and the sweat on his forehead.

"What, please tell me, are you doing?", she asked him sternly, getting up and giving him her best disapproving nurse scowl. However, she must have overused it during his time in hospital, because it had no effect on him at all. If anything, his smile grew even wider.

"I'll give you a hint", he replied with a grin playing at the corners of his mouth while he stretched his legs. "It's neither skiing nor swimming."

Oh no, smartass replies would get him nowhere when she was displeased with him.

"It's also neither resting nor taking it easy", she replied with narrowed eyes. "Which is funny, because that's what you should still be doing."

"Come on, Lizzie", he said, trying to look chastised but not really succeeding. "It's been… what?... six weeks? I got to get back in shape. And it feels really good to be doing something again."

She harrumphed, half disgruntled at him for not listening to her, half unbelieving that he could actually enjoy the running around.

"Five weeks. And am I right that this is not your first training?", she asked with pursed lips and saw her suspicion confirmed when he looked away sheepishly.

"My third training", he admitted reluctantly. "But I am taking it easy, only light running for twenty minutes, no sit-ups or the likes."

Running for twenty minutes? Okay, that had been her training yesterday and she had felt pretty beat-up after that.

"You still got the stitches in your side", she reminded him, but already knew that her cautioning was futile.

"Only the ones Dr. Coombs had to put in anew", he replied, giving her a small smile and slowly walking up the stairs towards her. "And they'll be out in an hour or two anyway."

He had reached her on top of the stairs and her nose was suddenly filled with the musky scent of his sweat. Strangely enough, the smell was not at all an insult for her nose, but it was rather enticing, making her heart beat a little faster in her chest. Swallowing hard, she looked up at him, now dangerously close to her, and saw his eyes twinkle playfully. Oh damn it, he knew exactly what effect he had on her.

"Am I getting no kiss?", he whispered lowly in her ear. A shiver ran down her spine and before she just gave in and threw herself at his lips, she remembered she was still supposed to be mad at him.

"No, no kiss", she replied adamantly, tearing herself forcefully away from him and his seductive little games. "I'm displeased and you stink. Go shower first."

It was a lie and he knew it as well she did. When she smiled at him to soften the blow of her words, he just chuckled, then let her into the house while he went for a shower. By the time he returned she was more than eager to catch up on the kissing part, they had not seen each other often enough lately. His hair was still slightly wet when he came closer and the smile on his lips made her all bubbly inside. However, when she leant in for a kiss, he deliberately turned away, making a show of looking for his jacket. She pursed her mouth, because she could clearly see the teasing sparkle in his eyes and the barely suppressed grin on his lips. Okay, he was obviously in a mischievous mood today, making her understand that two could play the game of refusing kisses. Oh, but he did not know yet that she was totally out of his league when it came to struggles of will, she always got her way!

"Are you coming?", Dick asked her lightly, jacket in hand and standing beside the door that led downstairs.

She just stood there and shook her head. It made him grin openly.

"You realize you're pouting?", he asked her, chuckling to himself.

She nodded her head once. Yes. This time he laughed out loud.

"You look adorable when you pout", he told her with sparkling eyes. "I could look at you all day with your lips pursed so prettily."

Damn it, now she had to smile. But she still refused to move, so he came closer and finally bent down to kiss her. God, it felt good! She was still amazed at how soft and at the same time exciting his lips felt on hers, she was sure she could never get enough of it. When kissing her, he shed all his guardedness and tenseness that he was so used to display on a daily base and just opened up to her completely. It stole her breath away. Her heart seemed to have multiplied tenfold, pulsating in every part of her body. Desire rushed through her at the touch of his hands on her body and made thinking quite difficult, almost impossible. They were alone in the house right now, maybe they could just...

She was about to suggest to him (hoping she had still control over her voice) that they took everything to the next level, when he broke away from her. The loss she felt at that was almost bodily painful and left her panting softly. Looking up, she could see that his eyes were hooded and that he was breathing quite heavily. Still, he had broken the kiss, not her. And it was not for the first time he had done so, she noticed, starting to feel irked. Every time things got heated between them, he pulled away from her. She suspected it had something to do with their very first kiss when he had gotten a little overexcited. He was probably still beating himself up over that, although she had made it clear that there was nothing to be sorry about. Either that or he was getting timid when things were becoming physical. However, she heavily doubted the latter, judging from the way he kissed her.

"I... I think it's getting late, we can't keep Dr. Coombs waiting", Dick said in a slightly raspy voice, clearing his throat and taking a step away from her towards the door.

"Yeah, bless you and your rationality", she muttered sarcastically under her breath.

"What was that?", he asked her with one eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Nothing, let's go", she just answered.

They walked downstairs in silence and stepped out of the house. As they walked to the car, Nixon arrived in his jeep and hopped out. Lighting himself a cigarette, he walked over to them.

"Hello there", he greeted them with a grin, but Lizzie thought she noticed an air of rather unusual seriousness about him. "Good that I catch you, Dick, there's some news you need to hear."

No jokes, no bawdy hints at seeing her and Dick together coming out of an empty house. Lizzie was impressed.

"Yeah? What's the matter?", Dick asked, a frown coming to rest on his brow that made him instantly look ten years older.

Nixon's eyes flickered to her and Lizzie felt herself bristle.

"No, no, no, I've had enough of being kept in the dark!", she protested before one of them even had the chance to send her away.

"It's alright, Nix, she'll probably have it prized out of me anyway by the end of the day", Dick replied in a voice that sounded slightly resigned.

"Alright", his friend answered. "Sobel made Bill Guarnere hand in his stripes today. Says it was because of an incident with Shames yesterday."

Lizzie felt her insides going cold. It could not be!

"What?", Dick asked unbelievingly. "Why?"

"I didn't get the whole story", Nix replied, flicking away the stub of his cigarette. "There was an argument of some kind..."

"It's my fault", Lizzie stammered breathlessly. The two men looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Bill was paired with me for shooting practice yesterday. I... well, we didn't start right away and I stroke a conversation about guns and war in general... Shames caught us and barked at Bill that he had been deliberately subordinate and they almost got into a fight right then and there."

"Why didn't you tell me?", Dick asked her, giving her a look of reproach.

"I was about to", she answered almost desperately. "I... somehow didn't get around to it yet."

He paused at the meaningful look she gave him and she was sure she could see Nixon raise an eyebrow out of the corner of her eyes. Luckily enough, he did not start speculating about the reasons that had prevented her from telling Dick about the incident.

"So you were the damsel turned cowboy that shot in the air?", Nixon asked her with a wry grin. "They're already spreading stories about the hazardous pairing of women and guns on the base."

While Dick looked flabbergasted from Lizzie to Nix and back again, she answered slightly miffed, "It was the only thing I could think of to stop them from going at each other's throat. Seems like I've done the wrong thing again if it didn't save Bill from getting busted back to private. I should've hold back, then at least he could've thrashed Shames. Would've been a great satisfaction to Bill and me."

"No", Dick intervened with a deep frown. "You've done the right thing to stop them or Guarnere would've been kicked out of the army." He stopped, then looked at Nixon, "He's still in the army, right?"

"Yes, and he's at the moment still in Easy company", Nixon replied. "But I heard some talk that he's thinking about quitting."

Lizzie could see Dick scowling deeply at that. In whatever playful mood he had been before this news, it was certainly gone now and probably would not come back today, she realized with a mental sigh. In the short time she had known him, she had already found out that he took his brooding very seriously.

In silence Lizzie and Dick got in the car and drove to the hospital.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Evening of the next day found Dick in the crammed mess hall on the base.

"Damn it, the cook has oversalted the soup again", Harry complained and made a face that remembered Dick of a child being told to eat up his spinach. "Why is every damn thing rationed here in England but the mess cook can still use as much salt as he pleases? Something's wrong here."

Dick saw Nix giving him a small smile over the table at Harry's rant and he minutely shook his head in amusement. Of course Harry was right, the food in the mess hall was awful. Dick found it right now even more awful after he had got used to the tasty meals of Mrs. Barnes. But on the other hand, eating together with his friends on the base again made him feel like everything was returning back to normal. Well, at least as normal as possible despite the fact that he could see the Easy boys from where he sat and knowing at the same time that he had no more ties to them. Heffron was in a heated discussion with Muck, Luz was stealing food from Heffron's plate when the other was too preoccupied to notice and Perconte was waving his fork around in an imitation of a gun maneuver.

A smile crept on Dick's lips at the sight and he hid it behind a spoonful of salty soup. It was only in such moments that he remembered how young they all were, some of them not even twenty years old. When in maneuvers, he had hardly ever noticed their age, but now that he saw them all together like this he noticed that they were barely more than kids. They had their lives before them, he fervently hoped all of them would survive this war with mind and body intact. At the same time he knew that such hopes were futile. When they went to war, there would be losses. It was pure math.

"... wouldn't you say, Dick?", Nix asked him, jolting him out of his reverie.

"I'm sorry, I didn't listen", Dick replied, tearing his gaze from the Easy men and focusing on his two friends. "What did you say?"

"I said that European girls are much more frigid than American girls", Nix repeated in a tone as if he discussed the newest type of tank. "This London girl I dated was alright, but then I always had the feeling I was chipping at an ice block. If she even has a heart, it would probably take some dynamite to heat it up. American girls are much more warmhearted."

"Aw, come on!", Harry exclaimed indignantly. "Just because you screwed one stuck-up city bitch and didn't like it, you can't condemn them all. I tell you, Kitty is the most warmhearted person I ever met, alright? She's Irish and she's not as shallow as your lukewarm run-of-the-mill American gal."

"Dick, tell the leprechaun he's wrong", Nix said and made a pitying face towards Harry.

Dick snorted, then shook his head.

"Leave me out of that game, I'm certainly not getting involved in your crude comparisons", he replied with decision.

"Lizzie's honor is at stake", Nix told him gravely.

"Well, actually she's both American and European", Dick answered with faint amusement, then suddenly realized his friend had tricked him into the conversation and frowned. "Nix, I won't discuss Lizzie here."

"You just did", Harry reminded him with a wicked grin. "So how's it going with her? Has she... ah... seen your etchings yet?"

Dick bit his lip, both trying to keep himself from blushing in embarrassment and from getting annoyed at his friends. The result was some faint red cheeks and a killing glance at both Harry and Nix.

"I'm not talking about this", Dick declared with a scowl.

Harry chuckled in response.

"Ah, so she hasn't let you in yet", he surmised grinningly.

"Harry, shut it", Dick growled lowly. It did not matter that Harry was one of his closest friends, he really did not want to talk about Lizzie in this way. He knew how such conversations went and Dick had a hard time to keep himself from blushing when they talked in very intimate ways about women he did not even know, he certainly would not make Lizzie the object of their discussion.

Just as Harry opened his mouth to say something bawdy in reply, it was Nix who stopped him.

"Leave him be, Harry", Nix threw in grinningly. "What they have is fresh and innocent yet, it's fine if he doesn't want to talk about it."

"What Kitty and I have is fresh and innocent, too!", Harry protested. "It's not like we'd only do dirty things from morning to evening..."

He started a rant about what made his young love with Kitty special, but Dick found his mind withdrawing from the conversation and his gaze inadvertently roamed back to the Easy men. With relief he noted that neither Shames nor Sobel were anywhere to be seen. Instead his gaze found Bill Guarnere, who sat silently in front of his plate and held himself a bit apart from the others, not joining in in their conversations. The ex-sergeant suddenly looked up and caught his gaze. Dick gave him a small nod over the room and Guarnere minutely nodded back, before he concentrated again on the soup in front of him. Poor Bill, it must have been hard to hand in his stripes yesterday. Dick could still remember the day Bill had received them. After all, it had been Dick who had recommended Guarnere as sergeant...

"Lieutenant Winters, sir?", a familiar voice drew him out of his thoughts and when Dick looked up, he saw Lipton standing in front of his table. Dick felt himself starting to smile at the welcome view, before he caught on the lines of worry on Lipton's forehead.

"What is it, Lip?", he asked with slight alarm.

"Could you come outside with me for a minute, sir?", the sergeant asked quietly and Dick realized he wanted to talk to him in private. He was not sure if this heightened or lessened his alarm. After all, there were no more formal ties between them and he had no idea what Lipton wanted to tell him

"Excuse me for a moment", he told his friends, who looked on with bemusement, then followed Lipton out of the mess hall. It was getting dark already, the days becoming shorter and shorter.

"What is it?", he repeated after he was sure they were out of earshot of anyone else and lightly grabbed Lipton's arm to bring him to a halt.

The sergeant looked him into the eyes and drew his brow together with worry.

"Something happened to Lizzie."

-tbc-


	17. Chapter 17

_Hey my dear readers! You people are absolutely awesome, I'm so happy to see how many of you took the time to review the last chapter. I didn't know how many people were actually reading this story and caring about what happens to Lizzie. Ah, warm and fuzzy feeling! :-) You totally made my day and help me keep up my motivation!_

_**Beth-rodrigues.77 **__(Hehe, you really are a Shames-hater, are you? :-)) Then I think you'll probably love this chapter. ;-) Yeah, I would've liked Guarnere to thrash Shames, but I couldn't let it happen, unfortunately.:-) Thanks a lot for your review!), __**Ophelia **__(Sooo happy you like both the Dick-Lizzie relationship and the Shames subplot, I'm somehow trying to get both plots together. :-))) Hehe, and the cliffie, well, I couldn't resist. :-) Loved your review so much!), __**Crazyforkasey **__(Very happy to hear you liked the last chapter. I hope this update comes soon enough for you. ;-))), __**Anon **__(*lol* Yes, I know the cliffie was mean. Hope you like this chapter!), __**coffee14 **__(Hehe, hope the wait wasn't too long for you! Thanks for the review!), __**ScarletLeon **__(Oh yes, Shames is definitely getting on my nerves, too. ;-))) That's why I think you'll like this chapter. ;-) Hehe, and Dizzie, yeah, they're just cute. :-))), __**MelBizz**__ (Hehe, yeah, I confess the cliffie comes rather out of the blue (since they're not even in the war theatre yet). Very much loved to hear that you like Dick and Lizzie! Thanks a lot for your review!), __**ChocAndSnow19 **__(Hehe, yeah, the cliffie, I just loved to write that one. So cool that you liked the character description of Bill, I only found out during writing that I absolutely love him. He's also always fun to write. *g* Yeah, Kitty, I love her, too. :-))), __**ForFriendsForLove **__(Thanks so much, I'm absolutely thrilled to hear you love this story! :-))), __**Jayden **__(So glad you liked last chapter, despite the mean little cliffhanger! :-)) Yeah, Bill is one of my favs, too, and Lip is just great. Love them both! Thanks for your review!), __**Semaphore **__(So glad you liked Chapter 3, too. Yeah, it's always better when the NCOs decide to take matter in their own hands, especially when their superior has taken a liking to playing deaf to their reasoning. :-))) So happy you liked the conversation between Nix and Dick and I'm absolutely thrilled to hear it made you laugh! :-)) Despite this story being a drama (mostly), I don't want to leave out the humor completely. Thanks so very much for your detailed reviews, they are always making my day!)._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Dick marched across the base at a fast pace. He desperately clung to the shreds of his self-control, which was the only thing holding him back from just breaking into a mad run to the military hospital.

A car accident.

Lizzie had been involved in a car accident. His thoughts were spinning around the words that he had heard from Lipton barely five minutes ago. The sergeant had not known what had happened exactly or how bad it was, he had just picked up the story from a group of nurses that had been talking about it. Somewhere in the back of his mind Dick wondered about the fact that Lipton had known he cared so much about Lizzie and had searched him out to deliver the news. However, in the forefront of his mind Dick battled mental pictures of a bloody and horribly mangled body, stuck between two twisted iron sheets. It took every bit of will power to keep the panic from filling him from head to toe.

Why had not Dr. Coombs let him know? She at least should have known about his connection to Lizzie, but he had not heard one word from her. Thinking about informing others brought to mind that Dick had failed to notify Nix and Harry about what had happened, he had just taken off as soon as he had heard from Lipton. But then again, the sergeant would probably have the presence of mind to tell his friends that he had needed to be away.

The hospital came into view and Dick felt his pace quicken even more, jogging up the last few steps to the entrance and then restraining himself back to a walk again. The emergency ward was rather quiet, no buzzing of doctors or nurses. When Dick walked down the row of beds, he saw only two or three soldiers occupying the cots.

"Jean, stop fussing", he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from the only bed in the room that had its curtain drawn shut. The sound of Lizzie's exasperated voice made Dick almost faint with relief. "I told you nothing's broken, I need to get up and..."

He tore open the curtain and was met with the sight of a rather battered looking Lizzie being held down by tiny and mousy Jean, who displayed an unusual amount of determination in her task of restraining Lizzie. Both women stopped dead in their tracks at his appearance and he had time to muster Lizzie from head to toe. She had a large gash on her forehead that was still bleeding sluggishly, ice bags were wrapped around her right wrist and she had small cuts and smudges of mud everywhere. She looked beat-up, but overall, she did not seem grievously injured. A pent up breath that Dick had not known he had been holding rushed out from his lungs.

"Dick!", Lizzie exclaimed, looking at him wide-eyed. "You're here? I just wanted to..."

She did not get any further because he was wrapping her in a tight embrace and her words were coming out muffled against his chest. She felt real in his arms, warm and breathing, and only slowly he truly believed that she was fine and alive. Despite Jean's presence, he kissed Lizzie's hair, her forehead and, finally, her lips. He could hear a small sigh escape her mouth, but it took only a few seconds until she struggled herself out of his arms. It was only with reluctance that he let it happen.

"Lizzie, you really scared me", he told her fervently. "When I heard about the accident..."

"Dick, listen to me", she interrupted and he noticed for the first time that she was very agitated. "There's so much I need to do... Greta's hurt, you know, she might lose her baby... I got to get up and ask Paul... then we need MP, _now_... it was Shames, Dick, it was him!"

He could only make sense of half of her ranting, but it was enough to worry him both about what had happened and her state of mind.

"Calm down, take a deep breath", he told her in a voice that could be used to cajole frightened cats from trees. "Tell me what happened first. But nice and slowly, okay?"

Lizzie obviously did not like his efforts in calming her down and she shot him an angry look.

"We don't have time for this, we need to act _now_!", she exclaimed, then again started struggling against Jean, who was still standing beside her bed.

"Damn it, let me go!", she suddenly exploded.

"Jean, I think it's fine if you let her up", Dick told the young nurse. It would not serve at all to keep Lizzie restrained, it would only make her struggle harder.

"Sir, she has a head wound, it could be dangerous", Jean protested in a small voice, but then finally let go of Lizzie, who immediately scrambled up to a sitting position.

"Thank you, Jean, it's fine. I think we got it under control", Dick said in an effort to convey some sort of normalcy. Beneath the surface he was burning to find out what had happened, but it would obviously do good to bring some sort of calmness into this chaos. "Could you maybe let us alone for a moment? I'll call you if there's a problem."

Jean narrowed her eyes, but then gave a tiny nod and left. Dick fetched one of the visitor's chairs and sat himself down next to Lizzie, who had gotten up to sit on the edge of the bed and cradled her right hand.

"It was him...", she muttered again in a more subdued voice, then visibly braced herself. "We were walking to Aldbourne village, Greta and I", she finally began in a trembling voice that was still coming out fast, but at least it was schooled into a pace that could still be understood. "We wanted to go to the pub for a drink and a quiet chat. It was getting dark already when a car approached us from behind at a fast pace and honked. We were about to get down from the road, but he didn't even slow down a bit. I realized he was about to hit us and I pulled down Greta with me... I wasn't fast enough!"

Her voice had taken on a desperate edge and Dick could see tears shimmering in her eyes. Very slowly he took her uninjured hand and caressed the back of her fingers soothingly.

"I need to go see her", she suddenly declared, voice distraught, and made a move to get up, but he held her back.

"Please, tell me all of it", he requested quietly.

"Dick, I swear it was Shames behind the wheel!", Lizzie exclaimed and looked at him with blazing eyes. "He missed me because I was walking on the roadside, but he caught Greta. Her leg is badly broken and she hit her head very hard. She was still unconscious when they brought her in... her child, Dick!"

Though he really felt for the doctor and the fate of her child, he could not bring his mind to focus on anything else than the information that Shames was the cause of the accident. The thought of the other lieutenant almost killing his girl made the blood rush in his ears.

"Lizzie, this is very important", he told her through clenched teeth. "Are you really sure it was him? And did he do it on purpose?"

Only a few weeks ago he could have sworn that no officer in the US army would be capable of running over two women with a car purposely, but now he was not so sure anymore.

"It was him!", Lizzie insisted in a shrill voice. "I... I don't know if he did it on purpose, but he didn't slow down at all. And he didn't stop after the accident!"

"Okay, okay, I believe you, alright?", he told her soothingly and drew her again into his arms, making an effort to stay calm despite the storm raging inside him. He would take Shames to task, tonight, as soon as possible.

"I need to go and see Greta", she said again more quietly, in a voice that had lost its edge. At least she was starting to calm down.

As he was about to suggest they go and find out how Dr. Coombs was doing, Dick noticed Nix entering the ward and looking for them. Seemed like news traveled fast this evening.

"Go on", Dick told Lizzie in a low voice. "I'll be with you in a moment, alright?"

She nodded gingerly, then got up. When she swayed a bit, he grabbed her and held her close for a moment longer. Worry suddenly surged up again in him. How badly had she been hurt? He had not even asked her about it since he had been so relieved to find her in one piece.

"Are you alright?", he inquired gently and guided her chin up with his hand so she had to meet his gaze. Her soft brown eyes looked a dull grey and dark circles were forming under them. The skin around her head wound was swelling already, it would be a rather big bulge by tomorrow.

"I'm fine, Dick", she sighed, sounding all of a sudden weary. "I'm feeling a bit banged up, but it isn't serious. I'm just really worried about Greta..."

"Yeah, sorry, I'm keeping you from her", he answered, relieved at her answer, but still determined to keep a watchful eye on her in the next few days.

She gave him the tiniest of smiles, as a kind of reassurance, then left through the back door of the ward to get to intensive care. When Dick turned around, he already found Nix beside him.

"What happened?", his friend just asked, frowning.

"Shames happened", Dick replied briskly. "Lizzie said he hit them with a car. She could get herself out of the way, but the doctor who treated me is seriously hurt."

"The pregnant one?", Nix asked somberly and Dick nodded. "Bastard son of a bitch!"

"Yeah", Dick replied, feeling his anger sharper than before, now that Lizzie was gone and he did not need to restrain himself for her sake. "Can you do me a favor, Lew? Can you search him out and bring him here? Then inform regiment and MP."

His friend raised his brows doubtfully.

"You sure that's such a good idea?", he put in carefully. "We should just let MP handle this from the start."

"No, I want to talk to him before MP gets him", Dick replied in a voice that came out rougher than he had intended. "He should see with his own eyes what he's done and I don't want to leave Lizzie alone right now. Look, if you don't want to, I'll go looking for him."

His voice had risen without him noticing and Nix lifted his hands in appeasement.

"Easy, okay?", his friend told him with a frown. "I'll do it. But Dick? Don't do anything stupid, alright? You've depleted your store of rashness for the months to come with that appendix story."

With that, Nix turned his back on him and walked out of the ward. Dick did not wait to watch him leave but went after Lizzie. He found her in intensive care, standing beside the bed and talking lowly to Dr. Coombs, the husband. When Dick came closer he could see his wife in the hospital bed, hooked up to all sorts of machines. Her head was wrapped tightly and the broken leg was in a thick cast. She was still unconscious.

"... I'm so sorry, Paul", he heard Lizzie apologizing tearfully when he came to stand beside her. "It happened so fast!"

"It's not your fault", the doctor murmured slowly, his eyes not leaving his injured wife.

"Dr. Coombs?", Dick spoke up, making the doctor look at him. He tried to sound as reassuring as possible when he said, "We'll find the one who's done this."

The doctor just nodded absent-mindedly, but Lizzie immediately turned around to face him.

"You called MP?", she asked.

"Nix is on it", he replied vaguely. His decision to talk to Shames before MP was not actually the standard procedure in a case like this. "Will Dr. Coombs be alright?"

"We don't know yet", she answered in a quivering voice. "If she doesn't wake up in the next few hours, we'll need to get her to another hospital that is better equipped for head injuries. But she shouldn't be moved more than is absolutely necessary."

"What about the child?", Dick asked quietly.

Lizzie bit her lip, then replied, "We don't know yet about that, either. It's... it's difficult to hear anything with our instruments here. The gynecologist is on his way here. We'll know more soon."

Silence followed her last words. Dick held himself in the background while Lizzie and Dr. Coombs checked the injured doctor's vitals every few minutes. It seemed to do them good to be able to do something, while Dick felt absolutely useless. His head was swirling with so many different emotions that he found it difficult to hold on to one train of thought for longer than a few seconds. Whenever he tried to tell himself that Lizzie had been lucky not to be hurt more seriously, he was reminded that her friend might lose her child or worse, not wake up again. As soon as he thought of that, he felt himself getting angry at Shames. Had he done it on purpose? And if yes, why? If somehow Dick's connection to Lizzie had made her a target for Shames, he would never be able to forgive himself. Then again, she was more or less unhurt, no thanks to Shames. Sighing, Dick tried to stop his circling thoughts, they were making him dizzy.

Seeing that he was no help to Lizzie or the doctor, Dick decided to go outside for a breath of fresh air. Just as he was stepping out of intensive care, he saw Nix coming in, steering a weaving Shames with both hands into the ward.

"Are you out of your minds?", Shames snarled as soon as he saw Dick and shook off Nix's hands on his shoulder. "What is the meaning of this? Is this your doing, Winters? You realize you can't just cite me here like this?"

"I can, obviously", Dick replied icily. When he got closer to Shames, the pungent smell of alcohol on the other's breath hit his nose.

"He's drunk as fuck", Nix explained as if he had followed Dick's train of thoughts.

"You know drinking on duty is against regulations?", Dick pointed out sharply.

Shames snorted in response.

"Yeah, you're one to talk with a friend like him", he replied with a sneer and pointed an unsteady hand at Nix. "You could report him every damn evening. So what's your fucking problem?"

"The problem is, asshole", Nix replied angrily, "that I don't run over people with my car when I'm drunk."

Shames hesitated for the blink of an eye, then answered through clenched teeth, "I didn't run over anybody."

He was lying. Dick knew he was lying.

"We have a witness who saw you behind the wheel", he answered and narrowed his eyes. "And there's a gravely injured woman in intensive care. You realize that she might die? Go and have a look."

Shames' eyes widened at that and he made a move to fight off Dick, who tried to maneuver him into the sick ward.

"I have nothing to do with that", the other lieutenant denied, coming close to stammering.

"Yes, you do", Dick replied fiercely. "You run them over and let them lie in the ditch."

He still had a hand wrapped around Shames' arm and tried to drag him through the door of intensive care. The other should see with his own eyes the damage he had done. A gravely injured expecting mother, her desolate husband and a desperate friend hanging on to every sign of life from her.

"It's not my fault they didn't get off the road!", Shames suddenly roared and pushed Dick away from him. "Stupid chicks should watch where they're going!"

The abrupt confession took Dick aback, but he did not ponder on it too long, because Shames' tone of voice and choice of words made him instantly battle the strong urge to hit the other man until he was whimpering at his feet and begging for his mother. It took every bit of will power not to give in to that impulse.

"You will be held accountable for this", he replied, feeling his voice getting hoarse from his restraint on his temper. "MP is on it's way. Regiment won't tolerate your actions."

"Dick?", a sudden voice interrupted and only then did he notice that Lizzie had appeared in the door and was watching the unfolding scene with big eyes. However, her gaze instantly turned sharp when it came to rest on Shames. "What is _he _doing here?"

Dick had never heard so much derision in one word. Before he had truly registered it, she was already advancing on Shames.

"You bastard!", she yelled at Shames. "You stupid asshole, you almost killed her!"

She raised her hand to slap him, but despite Shames' state of drunkenness, he was quick enough to catch her hand in his own before she could touch him. A cry of pain escaped her lips as he crushed her sprained wrist. Before Dick knew it, he was on Shames and forced open the other's grip on Lizzie. Shames immediately let go and Dick shoved him against the wall for good measure.

"You won't touch her again", Dick growled lowly, keeping the other lieutenant immobile between himself and the wall. He was tempted to smash the other's head against the hard surface, to drive the message home.

"Dick", Nix interrupted quietly, appearing beside Dick. "Let him go, MP will be here shortly."

As if on cue, Dick could hear the sound of heavy-booted steps coming closer and he gave Shames another hard shove against the wall that elicited a low moan from the others' throat before Dick let him go.

"What's going on here?", a new voice demanded thunderously and when Dick turned around he was surprised to see Colonel Sink at the head of five soldiers from MP. "Someone explain this quickly!"

"Drunk-driving and hit-and-run, sir", Nix put in smoothly. Dick had never been more grateful for the quick-wittedness of his friend, since he himself was still ringing for composure when thinking about Shames' words and actions against Lizzie. "Lieutenant Shames was involved in a car accident with two injured that happened about two hours ago, sir."

"It wasn't my fault!", Shames blurted out and pointed a weaving hand at Lizzie, who had turned white as a sheet and cradled her right hand. "They should've gotten out of the way!"

Sink frowned, then asked pointedly, "Who is _they_? And who is this woman?"

"One of the two injured, sir...", Nix tried to explain, but Shames interrupted him viciously.

"She's Lieutenant Winters' fling. That's why he tries to cover her foolishness in not getting off the road by accusing me."

That was the last straw, the fury was making Dick's ears rush and drowned out everything else. Including reason and good sense.

"Shut your goddamn mouth, Shames!", Dick roared. "You stupid..."

"That's enough!", Sink's sharp voice cut through the air like a bullet. "You calm yourself, Lieutenant Winters."

Nothing was farther from Dick's mind than the intention of calming down. Quite the contrary, he would have liked nothing more than to just throw himself at Shames. He did not see Lizzie's shocked face or Sink's expression of disapproval. The only thing he saw was Shames starting to sneer.

A sudden hand on his shoulder was the only think keeping him back.

"Dick", Nix talked at him in a low but insistent voice. "You're about to ruin everything, so calm down and take a deep breath. You're not helping anyone by starting a fight."

"He started it", Dick replied fiercely. His heart was beating madly in his chest and he could feel himself shaking slightly out of sheer fury. "It's only fair..."

"No", his friend disagreed sharply. "Just shut up and calm down, for Christ's sake!"

Surprisingly enough, Nix' pointed words helped and Dick took several deep and calming breaths. His anger was retreating and he could feel his thoughts growing sharper as the cloud of fury was retreating. He had been only a hair's breadth from losing it completely.

"This woman", Dick said to Sink slowly and clearly, pointing at Lizzie, "is a victim of Lieutenant Shames' ruthless behavior, that's what happened here. Another woman, a doctor, was also hit and might not recover again. Sir, Lieutenant Shames has violated a dozen regulations and I ask for further investigation."

"He's lying!", Shames spat out with eyes that blazed madly. "He's lying because he's fucking her!"

"Shames!", Sink's voice thundered. "I won't tolerate such language!"

That was the moment Dick realized that Shames had lost the game. Although the other lieutenant's insult, as much towards Lizzie as towards himself, was still making Dick want to lash out, he was able to wrestle it behind a barrier of cold-blooded self-discipline. It was as if he had raised some kind of curtain between himself and the hateful words of Shames.

"Everything that Lieutenant Winters states is true, sir", Lizzie now butted in in a carefully leveled voice. "I clearly saw Lieutenant Shames behind the steering wheel of the car that hit Dr. Coombs. He neither slowed down his car nor stopped to help after the accident."

Dick gave Lizzie a subtle nod from afar and he received one back from her.

"She's lying, they're both lying!", Shames still denied, his slurred voice beginning to sound crazed. Sink's thunderous countenance told Dick a lot about the colonel's disposition towards Shames.

"You're on duty and you're drunk, lieutenant", he said in a dangerously low voice. "You're right now going with MP and you'll spend the night in a cell, to sober up. We'll discuss your case tomorrow."

While MP led away a protesting Shames, Sink turned towards Lizzie.

"What's your name, lieutenant?", he asked her, voice turning gentler.

"Second lieutenant Elisabeth Weiss from the ANC", she replied formally, but Dick thought he could see hope flicker in her eyes.

"Lieutenant Weiss", Sink said. "I'd like to hear your report about everything surrounding this incident tomorrow morning, at ten o'clock in my office."

"Yes, sir", she answered and bowed her head respectfully.

Sink then turned to Dick and Nix.

"Lieutenant Winters, Lieutenant Nixon, accompany me to headquarters."

"Yes, sir", Nix answered, but Dick hesitated. He looked over to Lizzie, saw her still cradling her hand. He was loathe to leave her right now, after everything that had happened and after Shames' insults. They needed to talk in private about the accident and he wanted to be there for her as long as Dr. Coombs' fate was still so unsure.

"Lieutenant Winters?", Sink queried with raised eyebrows. Dick could make out the beginnings of a new frown on the colonel's forehead and he did not miss Sink's furtive glance to Lizzie and then back to himself. Still Dick hesitated.

"Just go, Lieutenant Winters", Lizzie prompted slowly and gave Dick a look of understanding from warm brown eyes. Although her formal address sounded rather cold in his ears, her eyes told him that there was nothing to forgive if he left now. Although it was still not an easy thing to do, Dick finally nodded.

"Yes, sir", he said to Sink, whose frown had deepened in the mean time.

A cold and harsh wind was blowing in Dick's face when he walked out of the hospital with Nix and Sink. The colonel stayed eerily quiet while he drove them back to headquarters and led them into his well furnished office in one of the big stone houses on the base that reminded Dick of a medieval castle. If this house was a castle, Sink lost no time to show Nix and him who was the master of it. He let them stand in silence before his massive, dark-wooded desk while he poured himself a drink.

"So", Sink finally began, "I have to confess these happenings put me into a rather uncomfortable situation. Don't think I haven't noticed the unrest in some of the Airborne companies. Soldiers struggling against their superiors, officers behaving in ways that is unbecoming of them" – at this point he looked rather sharply at Dick, who had the grace to let his gaze drop to the floor abashedly – "I can't hear it anymore and I just want some sort of calm to return to my companies."

He paused and Dick risked a short side glance to his friend. Nix stood there rather stoically, with an air that could almost be called boredom. Only slowly Dick realized that he had dragged his friend into this whole mess, Nix had not had anything to do with Shames before Dick had asked him for help. At least Nix' current display of indifference soothed some of Dick's bad conscience. If there was one person even less concerned about career and army hierarchies, it was his friend Nix.

"Of course I'm relieved", Sink continued, "that you called MP to inspect this latest misbehavior of the Airborne, but all of this could have been dealt with in a less... well, let's say 'dramatic' manner. Lieutenant Nixon, start with your account of the events of this evening."

First Nix reported his part of the whole story (leaving out bits here and there, of course), then it was Dick's turn to give his account. Sink listened intently, only interrupting once or twice, before he nodded after Dick had stopped speaking.

"Alright", the colonel said, "I want you to write down the accounts you've just given, I expect them on my desk by tomorrow ten o'clock. I want you out of the court-martial that will undoubtedly follow today's events. There are enough Airborne officers involved as it is, no need to mix in your names as well."

"Yes, sir", Dick and Nix replied in unison. It burned on Dick's tongue to ask what would become of second platoon of Easy company, now that Shames would most likely face court-martial, but he knew that it was not the right time to ask. Obviously Sink was still displeased with him right now.

"Alright, that's it for tonight", the colonel declared. "Lieutenant Nixon, you're dismissed. Lieutenant Winters, you'll stay for a short word."

"Yes, sir", Nix replied and shot Dick a fleeting look of curiosity, before he left the room.

Silence ensued and Dick noticed Sink mustering him intently. He felt rather uncomfortable, but forbid himself to fidget under the intense stare of the colonel.

"Have a seat, Dick", Sink finally said to him and gestured with his hand to the chair standing before his desk. Puzzled, Dick did as he was told. "I know it must be hard for you young people to face this war when you've got so much time still laid out in a bright future before you. I can also understand that you're rushing to have what other men your age have, too, just in case you won't have the chance for it later."

Every word that Sink spoke made the confusion in Dick more and more complete. He had really no idea what the colonel tried to tell him.

"Nights out with your friends, some nice place to stay, good payment", Sink continued, then paused before adding meaningfully, "Women."

Slowly but surely Dick realized what the colonel was driving at. There was no way he could have prevented the warmth from rising in his cheeks. God, please, he really was not in the mood for such a talk! With his colonel, of all possible people!

"Sir", he replied hesitantly, close to stuttering, "It.. it's not like that. Sir."

"Don't think me a fool, son, it's always about women", Sink exclaimed in a rather good-natured manner. "As soon as a man is losing his focus, it's because of a woman. When there's trouble, it's because of a woman. I guarantee you, the reason is always the fair sex."

Dick told himself to take this discussion stoically and stared at an ornament in Sink's desk in an effort to shake off his embarrassment. If Lizzie could hear this discussion she would probably laugh out loud.

"You met Lieutenant Weiss when you were in hospital, I take?", Sink asked suddenly.

Dick did not think it wise to lie or play the fool.

"Yes, sir."

"She took care of you?", the colonel asked on,

"Yes, sir", Dick replied again, keeping his eyes cast down on the floor.

"Oh, son", Sink said, rather amiably, and leaned back in his chair. "This is pretty clichéd, don't you think? I can explain you how such attachments happen: you're lying in hospital, sick and hurting, and along comes this damn nice nurse who is tending to you with great care and soothes you when you most need it. She was trained to cheer up wounded soldiers, it's her job. You fall in love with her and since you're an officer, she'll like to be seen with you. It happens very often."

Dick listened to the colonel with raising indignation. How dare Sink judge his relationship with Lizzie? It was not in the least the way the colonel described it, but decorum forbid Dick to talk back to Sink. So he chose to grind his teeth and just let the lecture wash over him.

"Sir", he replied as non-committal as possible, since Sink was looking at him with raised eyebrows, expecting some sort of an answer.

"Your case is not the same as the enlisted with their gals", the colonel continued. "They can do whatever they want, as long as they comport themselves at least half-decent. But you're an officer, Dick, and a damn fine officer at that. I expect you to deal with this in a way that is befitting an officer in your position. You're losing your focus and this can't happen right now. You owe it to your country to give your best and you can only give your best if your mind is freed from any distractions."

Dick swallowed heavily, his heart rebelling against the very thought of Lizzie as a distraction. How could the colonel be so wrong?

"This is just a good piece of advice I'm giving you", Sink continued, voice turning sharper. "But I strongly recommend you get this issue settled. I won't have a repetition of today's happenings, just because of a woman."

"Sir", Dick replied through clenched teeth.

"That's all, then. See me on Monday morning, in three days."

"Yes, sir."

-tbc-


	18. Chapter 18

_Hey guys! Thanks so much for staying loyal and encouraging, this means a lot to me. By the way, we surpassed the 100'000 words line last time, I can't believe how long this story is getting... I would have reckoned to be in France or Holland by this time (story-wise), but this just takes more time and space than I'd thought. But we're getting there!_

_A special thanks goes to my dear reviewers: __**Ophelia **__(I'm so happy you liked Sink's lecture, it was quite fun to write, too. Haha, three prohibitions, I hadn't even thought of that when I wrote it, but it's true! :-)))Yeah, and you're absolutely right that the next hurdle will come (soon) for Dick and Lizzie and Easy... :-) Loved that you called this story a saga, because it's really getting monstrously long! :-))), __**beth-rodrigues.77 **__(Hehe, I already suspected that you'd love the end of Shames, since you really seemed to hate him a lot. :-) So happy you liked his end! ;-) Yeah, you'll find out about Greta in this chapter, I'm very glad you like her. And thanks so much for the compliments for this story, loved to hear that! :-)), __**MichelleLeNoire **__(Welcome to the story and thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Hope you like this chapter as well!), __**MelBizz **__(Thanks so much, I really do hope you like where this is going and that the story continues to be interesting! :-)), __**ChocAndSnow19 **__(I thought it interesting that you suspected a car accident. :-) I got the idea for it from the show, never would have suspected so many car crashes in the army until I watched "Points", and so I thought it would be plausible. :-) Hehe, yeah, and Shames is finally gone! Loved that you liked the last chapter so much, I did try to give some introspection into Dick's mind, glad it seemed to work out! :-))) Thanks so much for your reviews, always love them a lot! A lovely day to you as well! :-), __**autumnescspade **__(Welcome to the story and thanks so much! *blush* I'm thrilled you got hooked on this story and on this relationship between Dick and Lizzie. :-))), __**ScarletLeon **__(Hehe, I knew you'd love to see Shames incriminated, because you really seemed to hate him a lot. Oh, it's so nice to see that you care for Greta and the baby! :-) Loved that you thought Sink's lecture funny, it was very fun to write! :-) Thanks so much for your continuous support, love it!)._

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When Dick stepped out of headquarters, he found Nix waiting for him outside.

"So what did Sink say?", his friend immediately started prodding and fell into line with Dick. Despite the darkness of the night Dick could read the open curiosity clearly on Nix' face.

"He lectured me", Dick replied reluctantly, frowning.

"About what?", Nix pried while they walked back to where their car was parked on the other side of the base.

"Lizzie", Dick answered, still feeling the vestiges of embarrassment clinging to him. If someone had told him just a few weeks ago that he would one day receive a lecture concerning women from Sink, he would have laughed out loud.

"Ah", his friend replied, looking at Dick questioningly, as if he expected him to declare everything a big joke. "Could you maybe be a bit more specific?"

Dick sighed and shot his friend an aggravated look. Blast it, he did not even know himself what to make of that lecture, how should he explain everything to Nix?

"Sink doesn't approve of me seeing her", Dick finally relented, shaking his head to himself. When he thought back to the discussion he had just had, he could not help but feel irritated at the colonel's meddling in his affairs. It was not as if he had neglected his duty or something! It had all been Shames' fault!

"Surprise, surprise", Nix replied sarcastically. "Didn't you tell me just two or three weeks ago that Regiment wouldn't approve of a relationship between the two of you?"

"I know. No need to rub it in", Dick answered bitingly, then added more softly, "I didn't plan this, it just happened."

"That's why we call it love, buddy", his friend offered jovially. "Seems like First Lieutenant Winters' stickler schedule and this fickle thing called love might need to arrange themselves."

Despite himself, Dick snorted in response.

"So", Nix continued after a short silence when Dick made no move to tell him the whole story, "did Sink tell you to end it?"

"No...", Dick replied hesitantly, "well... I don't know. He hinted at it."

"What are you going to do?", his friend asked on.

"I need to make sure she's alright, after everything that happened", Dick answered, sending Nix an intent look. "And I need to know how Dr. Coombs is doing."

"Alright, I've actually not meant right now, but in the future", his friend remarked lazily and grinned. "But this pretty much answers my questions. Seems like new Dick doesn't care about what his colonel tells him. Welcome to the mavericks' club!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lizzie's head hurt.

She tried to massage the ache away, but the pain still throbbed with a vengeance behind her forehead. Staring at Greta's unmoving body in the bed in front of her and wishing with all her might for her to wake up certainly did not help with the headache. The only thing distracting her from the pain in her head was the throbbing of her wrist. And fantasizing about the many different ways of Shames rotting in hell. If only she had not been so tired, she might have come up in her mind with even more colorful imaginations of him dying a slow and painful death.

"She's breathing a bit easier, isn't she?", Paul asked her hopefully, sitting beside her on a chair.

"Yeah, I think you're right", she replied, although she was not all that sure about it. Nevertheless, she was far from pointing out her doubts to Paul. They needed to keep up their hope. At least they knew that the baby's heart was still beating, the gynecologist had told them so before leaving about ten minutes ago. However, as long as they did not know if Greta would wake up again, the child was still in danger. Not to speak of all the stress that might still trigger a miscarriage.

"How is she doing?", a new voice butted in and when she turned around, she saw Dick standing in the doorway.

"You're back", she just stated hollowly, feeling too worn out to express real surprise. She had not expected to see him again this evening, but there he was. He seemed unsure where to put his arms and finally decided to cross them in front of his chest. There was something definitely uneasy about him and he did not smile at her. After a few moments, he took a hesitant step in her direction.

"Yes, I wanted to know how Dr. Coombs is doing", he explained quietly, then sent her an uncertain look. "And how you're doing, after everything that Lieutenant Shames said."

"Well, I wasn't the one being corrected by my superior and then being cited away", she replied cautiously. If she had not been so worried over Greta and so angry at Shames, she would have allowed herself the question of what had been discussed between Dick and his colonel. No way the colonel had not noticed something going on between her and Dick. As it was, she was just too tired for any more second-guesses about what had transpired in the meantime.

"True, but Shames insulted your honor. People might talk", Dick pointed out with a frown.

"My honor?", Lizzie asked, incredulous. "What century are you living in? I couldn't care less about my honor right now, Dick, because I've got other worries on my mind. Shames is a fucking asshole, who deserves to rot in hell. That's all I have to say about him right now. If that's all you're interested in, you might as well leave now."

Her voice had gotten sharper than she had intended. The look of hurt in his eyes told her everything about it. She immediately felt bad about it, he did not deserve her anger, because it really was not directed at him. But then she was just too tired to care.

A sudden sigh and a movement from the bed diverted her attention back to her injured friend. Frustration and anger blown away, she watched as Paul darted to his wife's side. Greta shifted again, then mumbled something that was too low for Lizzie to understand.

"Sorry, darling, what did you say?", Paul cajoled quietly, despite the excitement suddenly written all over his face.

"...stop... them...", Greta repeated sluggishly and struggled to open her eyes.

"Who, darling?", her husband asked again.

"Lizzie... and... red-head", she replied slowly and managed a glare from dazed blue eyes, that nevertheless managed to convey the message to Lizzie. "Stop... argue... all the... time... Head... hurts."

Lizzie felt as though the brilliant smile on her lips might yet split her face and moved her chair closer to Greta's bed.

"Oh honey, I'm just so glad you can tell me off for it", Lizzie replied with eyes that were getting wetter by the seconds. "If you make an effort to get well again soon, I promise we won't argue anymore."

Her eyes sought out Dick, who was still keeping himself in the background, and gave him a watery smile that he hesitantly returned.

"Promise... noted", Greta murmured, then closed her eyes again to slip back into a restful sleep.

Although her friend could not see it anymore, Lizzie got up and walked over to pull Dick down in a deep kiss. He got quickly over his surprise and hungrily kissed her back, before he just hugged her close and rocked her in his arms.

"I'm sorry", she whispered to him.

"It's okay", he replied in a low voice, then held her close again as if someone had threatened to take her away from him. "Everything's going to be fine."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When Lizzie stepped out of Colonel Sink's office the next morning, she heaved a deep sigh. Although he had practically peppered her with questions concerning the accident (which had not at all helped her still aching head), he came across as a fair man. Unrelenting in some ways, but still fair. She had even received an apology for Shames' behavior in the name of the Airborne regiment and the promise that he would be replaced. Hearing about that had made her heart beating slightly faster because she instantly thought of Dick. She had carefully pointed out that it would probably be difficult to find a suitable replacement with enough experience on such a short notice, but instead of slipping up in his answer, the colonel had just frowned at her. Frowned quite knowingly, now that she thought about it and she winced inwardly at her clumsy try of wheedling secrets from him. As a last resort, she had innocently batted his eyelashes at him, but it had not worked.

"That would be all", Sink had just told her with a deep scowl, then had added meaningfully, "Do try and stay away from any further collisions with my Airborne officers, Lieutenant Weiss."

There was not a sliver of doubt whom Sink had been talking about. Certainly not Shames, that much was clear.

Frowning to herself, she left the Airborne headquarters and walked slowly to the car she had leant from the hospital. Greta had already been well enough this morning to lecture Lizzie on the idiocy of driving a car with a fresh head wound. At least her friend was recovering, that much was sure. Lizzie was about to get into the car when a voice stopped her.

"Lieutenant Weiss?", she heard and when she turned around she saw Lipton jogging up to her. He was dressed in PT gear and when she looked in the direction he had come from, she could see some of the Easy men she knew by sight locked in a lively soccer game beside one of the stone buildings, some of them waving in her direction.

"Hey Carwood", she greeted him and gave him a smile. "How are you doing?"

"Fine", he answered and wiped the sweat from his brow with one of his sleeves. "We got the day off, which was quite a surprise. But how are you? I heard about some kind of accident and was worried about you."

"Yeah", she replied and winced a bit when she touched the bulge on her forehead. "Car accident. I could get out of the way, but my friend was hurt quite badly. But she'll recover, thank God."

"Do you know who drove that car?", Lipton asked, his honest eyes shining seriously. Lizzie was taken aback by his tone of voice. Had she gotten herself a protector in him? Maybe she had been adopted because he seemed quite protective of Dick.

"Yeah, I've got a good guess who was behind the steering wheel", she answered vaguely. It was a bad idea to tell him about Shames, since spilling the news was not her job, but keeping it to herself was even harder.

"Okay", Lipton replied drawn-out and gave her a speculative look. "So what are you doing here, coming out of Airborne headquarters? You applied for Easy company?"

The last comment made her smile.

"Yeah, because jumping out of flying airplanes is such a sensible thing to do", she answered sarcastically and watched him chuckle.

"No, seriously, what are you doing here?", he asked her again and watched her intently.

Lizzie hesitated. She would have loved to tell him the good news, even more so after she had messed up in her last attempt to help them. But she could get in trouble by spilling everything. Dick certainly would not approve. Then again, she trusted Lip to cover his source for this piece of information.

"Maybe I was talking to your colonel because I'll be your new platoon leader", she replied jokingly, unable to bite back this hint.

First Lipton frowned confusedly. Then it suddenly seemed to dawn on him and he just gawked at her.

"You're saying what I think you're saying?", he asked her, becoming more and more excited. "We'll get a new platoon leader? You serious?"

"I didn't say anything like that, I was just making a joke that I thought you'd find funny", she replied grinningly and winked at him.

"Maybe this explains why we suddenly got the day off, instead of spending it crawling in the dirt as planned", he stated with glowing eyes that made Lizzie forget all her second thoughts about telling him.

"You didn't hear this from me, alright?", she asked since she needed to be sure. She had been in too much trouble lately as it was.

"Of course not!", Lipton replied firmly, but now gave her a wink in return. "You were just making a joke that you'd thought I'd find funny. Everything else I found out by myself."

Lizzie snorted and said good-naturedly, "Exactly. Just wait a few hours until you tell the boys or it will be clear for everyone that you heard from me. And wipe that grin off your face, for Christ's sake!"

"Yes, ma'am", he replied with a grin that was even wider than the one before. "In a minute. Do you know if we get Winters back?"

"I don't know anything, alright?", she replied and raised her eyebrows.

"Alright, we'll probably know in a few days", Lipton said, looking decidedly boyish in his cheerfulness. "Getting him back would make everything perfect. But at least it can't get any worse than Shames."

"Look, I'll leave you to your speculations", Lizzie told him, "I have to get back to the hospital."

"Thanks, Lizzie", he said warmly.

"I have no idea what you mean", she replied playfully and got into the car.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was Monday morning and Dick waited outside Sink's office.

The last two days had passed quickly. He had spent them brooding over everything that had happened. And he had seen Lizzie. Twice. In all secrecy, of course. Although he had made an effort to really think about Sink's advice, he had found himself unable to follow his colonel's suggestion. He could not just let her go like that, just because his superior was against it. He had done nothing wrong, neither had she. As long as it did not affect his duty, he was unwilling to let the one person go for whom he cared the most right now. It was as simple as that.

At least that was what he had tried to tell himself. Doubts had still followed him like an unwanted shadow. What if he had already started neglecting his duty without him noticing? There was no denying that he might put more effort in his work at intelligence, but it _was_ boring him to death. What if he had lost his focus? Thinking back to the red-hazed anger he had felt the moment Shames had crushed Lizzie's wrist brought on some uncomfortable thoughts. Would he have reacted the same way if it had been someone else than her? Probably not.

The opening of the door pulled him out of his reverie.

"Colonel Sink will see you now, Lieutenant Winters", the orderly told him with an air of importance and Dick walked into the office. To his surprise, not only Sink was there, but Sobel, too.

"Dick", his former CO greeted him coldly with a smile that looked so forced it must be painful.

Dick saluted them both and stood at attention.

"At ease", Sink told him neutrally, but let him stand while he and Sobel remained sitting.

"You must be aware, lieutenant", the colonel continued, "that we have a bit of a problem since Lieutenant Shames left Easy company rather abruptly."

Dick noticed the hateful glance Sobel sent him and realized that the captain thought that all of this was his fault. At the same time Dick decided he did not care and instead focused solely on Sink.

"For me it is of greatest importance to get peace and order back into my companies", Sink went on and watched Dick intently. "After all the unrest in the last few weeks, the boys don't need another new face, but someone they know and trust, wouldn't you agree, lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir", Dick instantly answered, trying to keep the excitement from showing on his face. Come on, come on, just say it, he mentally urged the colonel on.

"Although Captain Sobel was against putting you back into your old position because of the allegations of fraternization", Sink continued, "I'm willing to give you the opportunity to prove yourself. You did an excellent job with the men, Dick, I haven't forgotten that."

Yes, finally! Dick cheered to himself inwardly and could not quite keep the smile from his lips as he tried to answer as demurely as possible, "Thank you, sir. I'd be glad to be back with the men, sir."

"Yes, I know, you made that clear enough when I made you staff officer", Sink replied almost wryly and at the same time heaved a small sigh. "I talked already with intelligence. Although Captain Norton was rather unwilling to let you go, he left the decision to me. Just one more question, Dick: Are you ready to take back command for second platoon of Easy company? You know it'll be more physically demanding than sitting behind a desk in intelligence. However, we can't wait for another few weeks, I need a platoon leader now."

"Yes, sir, I'm ready", Dick replied without hesitation.

"Are you cleared for regular duty yet?", the colonel asked on, watching him intently.

For one moment Dick was tempted to lie, because he had never seen Sink more eager to fill a position before. The colonel would probably not check with military hospital, but just take him by his word.

"Almost, sir", he finally decided to answer, unable to lie outright to his superior. Lizzie had talked about another two or three weeks until his final clearance. But he would be damned if he let this formality come in between him and going back to Easy.

"That won't do", Sobel put in, "I have no use of a platoon leader who needs to be cuddled, we can't have..."

"Herbert, that's enough", Sink interrupted mildly. "You heard the lieutenant, he's said he's ready. As soon as we go to battle we'll need to adjust these strict clearance regulations anyway. Look, what about this: you'll need to have some more weapon instructions anyway, in the next few weeks. And there's some tactics on the plan as well. What about doing these less strenuous things in the next few days and postponing PT, or at least the demanding parts of it, for a week or two? You'd not fall behind, Herbert, and Lieutenant Shames has done so many exercises that the boys will hardly get out of shape."

"Sir", Sobel replied through clenched teeth, neither accepting the colonel's suggestions nor speaking against them.

"Sir, I already started light training again", Dick offered, hoping to overcome any lingering doubts in his colonel.

"That's excellent, Dick", Sink replied and gave him a small smile. "Then everything's settled. It's all pretty instant, you'll go back with the captain right away and start training. With Lieutenant Shames gone from the company, everything should be as before."

"Thanks, sir", Dick replied. Then a sudden thought came to his mind. "Sir, am I allowed to speak?"

"Yes, Dick, go on."

"There's one thing that's not like before. I recommended Bill Guarnere more than half a year ago as a sergeant and Captain Sobel approved of it. Guarnere has done very well in this position, although he's still a bit young for it. However, as you might know, sir, Lieutenant Shames made him hand in his stripes because of some minor quarrel between them. Sir, I think the demotion of Sergeant Guarnere was just another one of Lieutenant Shames' mistakes and it would do the platoon some good to reverse some of the blunders of Lieutenant Shames. Only then would the platoon be as it has been before."

"Hmm", Sink replied thoughtfully and gave Sobel a questioning look that was only answered by a shrug of the captain's shoulders. For Dick it was clear that Sobel had definitely dropped Shames and his CO would not side again with his fallen lieutenant in front of the colonel. Which was probably why the captain did not object to Dick's suggestion.

"Yes, let's do that", Sink finally decided. He rummaged in the drawers of his desk before he pulled out a small envelope with the Airborne eagle on it und handed it to Dick. "The quicker we get back to normalcy, the better for the regiment."

"Thank you, sir", Dick replied.

"That's it, then", the colonel declared. "I'll let you get back to your men."

After being dismissed by Sink, Dick quietly followed Sobel out of the office and out of the building. It was only in the car that took them to the barracks of the Easy men when the captain broke his icy silence.

"Don't you dare thinking you can lead Easy the way you want, Dick", Sobel said in a dangerously low voice, almost skewering Dick with dark blazing eyes, "just because you gained the colonel's ear for a short moment. He was in an awkward position and you exploited it ruthlessly. In future you'll ask me before you make any suggestions concerning the noncoms."

"It is neither my intention to lead Easy, nor did I want to exploit Colonel Sink, sir", Dick replied evenly. Although he had wished night and day to be back with Easy, he had somehow blocked the memory of Sobel and his paranoia when it came to leading his company. Did not everything appear much more perfect in retrospective?

"I'm watching you", Sobel hissed, completing the image of the paranoid leader in Dick's mind. "I won't have you destroy all the good work I put into this company."

"Yes, sir", Dick just answered as neutrally as possible and turned his head to watch the landscape flit past him. It had not even taken an hour and Sobel was already getting on his nerves.

They soon reached the barracks where the other two lieutenants of Easy company were already waiting. Peacock looked more or less indifferent at Dick's appearance, but Harry welcomed him with a bright grin and a clap on the shoulder.

"Hey Dick, good to have you back", his friend greeted him, ignoring Sobel's dark look. "Who would have guessed that? You again here with us. And I thought you liked intelligence so much."

"That's enough", Sobel commanded harshly. "At least try to comport yourselves like decent officers. We're not on some holiday trip."

Dick stayed silent, but had to suppress a twitch of lips when he saw Harry rolling his eyes behind Sobel's back. As long as his friend was there, even Sobel's bouts of viciousness could be borne more easily.

It was in that moment that the men of Easy company filed out of the barracks. A warm glow spread in Dick's chest that slowly filled his whole body when he saw the men he had trained with for such a long time giving him surprised stares. After a moment or two, some of them even quirked a smile, but they all retained the best order, much to Dick's satisfaction. His presence did not lead to any disarray or even murmuring among them. However, he clearly felt many pairs of eyes focused on him.

"Easy company!", Sobel addressed them loudly. "I have to announce to you a change in personnel of immediate effect. Lieutenant Shames has left the company, Lieutenant Winters will take over his position as First Lieutenant and leader of second platoon."

Again, some of the men were on the brink of smiling, but Dick was relieved that they kept it mainly to themselves, because Sobel was watching the ranks like a hawk.

"Lieutenants", the captain then said, turning around. "Instruct your sergeants that they gather equipment for weapon instruction. Machine guns, mortars and rifles. We'll meet in full gear by the trucks that will take us out to the training fields in thirty minutes."

"Yes, sir", Dick answered in unison with the other two lieutenants. He was surprised that Sobel actually followed Sink's suggestions and had decided on a more theoretical and less physically demanding exercise. It was very unlike Sobel to go easy on him, which was why Dick could not fully shake off a feeling of wariness.

Walking over to his platoon (oh, he liked the sound of it!), Dick felt for the envelope in his pocket. He saw Lipton and Grant standing in the first line, but it took some more time to locate Guarnere in the very last row.

"Sergeants to me", he commanded calmly and gave Lipton and Grant, who stepped forward, a welcoming nod. Both seemed quite hard-pressed to stay in their formal roles and answered with a neutral "Sir" despite their glowing eyes.

Dick then looked to Guarnere and said easily, "That means you as well, Sergeant Guarnere."

"Sir?", Guarnere asked hesitantly, but made no move to step forward.

"Just come here, _sergeant_", Dick prompted and produced the envelope from his pocket for everyone to see. A small cheer rose from the ranks and he did not have the heart to suppress it, since he felt that Guarnere had truly earned his regained rank. He had been the one suffering the most under Shames, so he literally deserved some cheering up.

Guarnere slowly trod forward and still looked a bit dazed when Dick shook his hand and gave him the envelope that contained his stripes.

"Congratulations, Bill", he told him, then added good-naturedly, "Again. Just try to hold on to this a bit longer than last time, alright?"

"Thank you, sir. This means a lot to me", Guarnere replied almost timidly, a far cry away from the swaggering soldier he usually was. But Dick was sure that he would be back to his old self in no time at all. This was probably a moment to look back to wistfully in a few days when Guarnere would again display his stubborn and rebellious side.

"It's good to have you back, Bill", Dick said with a small smile.

Guarnere returned the smile and replied with a hint of cheekiness, "No, sir, it's good to have _you _back."

"I totally agree", Lipton threw in with Grant nodding emphatically.

"Yeah, it's good we're all back", Dick answered smilingly, then decided to get things moving, because he could already feel Sobel's eyes boring in his back. "So, get the men to gather guns, mortars and rifles for weapon instruction. Be ready in twenty minutes by the trucks, in full gear."

"Yes, sir!", the three sergeants answered enthusiastically, then turned around to carry the orders into execution.

Twenty minutes later, Dick sat in the jeep together with Harry, Peacock and Sobel, who drove the car. Twelve trucks followed them, loaded with the Easy men. It was mid-November by now and the weather suited it perfectly. The sky was one big mass of grey and it rained every five minutes, only to stop again after a few moments. A strong wind was blowing into their faces and Dick was glad he wore his lined coat.

After half an hour, they reached the training grounds, an open field with several targets for the different kinds of weapons. Dick looked around the familiar grounds. He had been here before, both with the Easy men and on his own to get more practice. However, it was the first time he saw no instructors on the areal. They were completely alone. Frowning, he turned to Sobel, who was gathering the men trickling out of the trucks.

"Easy company!", the captain addressed them in a voice that sounded almost triumphant. "You leave all weapons here except your rifles. I changed my mind. No weapon instruction today. We'll run twelve miles, in full gear. Get ready!"

Suppressed gasps and moans could be heard from the ranks. Staring numbly at Sobel, Dick could understand the men's disbelief quite well. They had never run twelve miles in full gear before. They had marched longer distances in full gear and they had run twelve miles in PT dress, but they had never had to run such a long distance with additional gear that weighed approximately 35 pounds and flapped around them the whole time.

Sobel gave Dick a short, challenging look, before he started running. Dick broke into a jog as he followed him with second platoon. There was no mistaking his captain's message. Sobel had never even intended to go easy on Dick, quite the contrary. This was literally a test of endurance and his CO was fully determined to win it.

And Dick had never been more ill-prepared for it.

-tbc-


End file.
